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General News
Marine Connection open new cetacean exhibition
(Added: 07 May 2008)
The Marine Connection are delighted to launch a new project in Benbecula, Outer Hebrides on cetacean welfare and protection - why not visit us if you are in the area.
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Delay in decision over Cook Inlet beluga listing
(Added: 22 April 2008)
The Marine Connection fully supports the ongoing appeal to have the Cook Inlet Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
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Two found guilty in dolphin court case
(Added: 17 April 2008)
Michael Jukes and Daniel Buck, the two men accused of disturbing 'Dave' the dolphin have today (17 April 2008), been found guilty as charged. Both have been sentenced to 120 hours community service and fined £350 each plus costs.
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Japan set sail for minke whale 'research'
(Added: 11 April 2008)
The Japanese fisheries agency have announced that on Monday 14 April, five boats will leave from Northern Japan headed for the North Pacific Ocean, their target - up to 60 minke whales, to be caught in the next month in the name of research. About 100 minke whales are killed in the Pacific by Japan annually whilst in Antarctica the number rises to at least 900. Researchers claim they now need to study the whales food intake to ascertain their impact on fish stocks.
Further support for whale sanctuary
(Added: 11 April 2008)
Following the report on a recent meeting with President Bachelet, (see 10 April below), a new poll shows the amount of public support for establishing a sanctuary in Chilean waters.
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Nordic ministers clash over whaling
(Added: 10 April 2008)
Swedish and other Nordic and Baltic government leaders have been meeting in Sweden for top-level discussions of continuing Nordic co-operation work in the European Union.
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Chile a step closer to creating a whale sanctuary
(Added: 10 April 2008)
Colleagues in Chile have taken their proposals for the creation of a whale sanctuary one stop further by meeting with the President, Michelle Bachelet.
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Makah members found guilty of illegal whale hunt
(Added: 08 April 2008)
Further to our previous report (see 21 January 2008), it has been announced today that the members of the Makah tribe who led an unsanctioned gray whale hunt in September 2007 have been convicted of federal misdemeanor charges by a US court.
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Dolphins in south west India face an uncertain future
(Added: 07 April 2008)
According to a recent survey, at least 1,000 dolphins are killed every year in Kerala, Southern India - mainly due to fishing nets. However it has now been revealed that dolphins are also being deliberately slaughtered.
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Draft UK Marine Bill published
(Added: 03 April 2008)
New marine nature reserves around Britain’s coast are among plans published today (April 3, 2008) by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn.
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Advert launched to highlight dolphin trafficking
(Added: 02 April 2008)
As part of the coaltion working to stop wild dolphin captures and trade we would like to congratulate our colleagues at the Humane Society and Save Japan Dolphins on their advert which has been launched today to highlight the issue, which we wholeheartedly support.
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New footage of brutal dolphin hunt obtained
(Added: 31 March 2008)
The Marine Connection has for many years supported the work of Ric O'Barry and in more recent times, the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition to put an end to the brutal annual drive hunts in Japan. One important aspect of the work is to highlight to the public and media the truth behind these "hunts" and the animals sourced from them to supply marine parks. Now, graphic footage of the annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan has been captured on film during a yearlong operation.
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Concern for safety of Moko in New Zealand
(Added: 31 March 2008)
Reports are being received from New Zealand of concern for Moko, the dolphin which has been frequenting Mahia Beach, who it is felt may potentially be in danger as a result of all the attention the animal has attracted.
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Transient orcas on the move
(Added: 27 March 2008)
Each year, around April time, killer whales approach the Oregon coast and patrol the central coastal waters, looking for baby gray whales, sea lions or seals to feast on. They are rarely seen in these waters, except at this time of year.
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Illegal whale meat trade exposed
(Added: 19 March 2008)
South Korean police have arrested three fishermen who are suspected of running a ring that traded in illegal whale meat. 90 mink whales were found in a cold storage facility in Ulsan, home to scores of restaurants that serve whale meat.
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Iceland likely to commence whaling again
(Added: 14 March 2008)
Iceland who ended its ban on commercial whaling in 2006 is likely to commence whaling again this summer. Last August its fisheries ministry said it would not issue new quotas until market demand increased and an export agreement with Japan was in place. Whaling could start as early as May. Gunnar Bergmann Jonsson, the head of Iceland's minke whaling association said he hoped for a quota of 100 whales.
Norway announces whale quota
(Added: 21 February 2008)
Norway has announced its whale quota for 2008 and plans to hunt over a thousand minke whales. The quota remains unchanged from last year and includes 97 whales that were not caught during previous whaling seasons. The majority of the animals will be taken from the coastal areas around the Barents Sea, Svalbard and the North Sea.
Another dolphin hunt in Japan
(Added: 14 February 2008)
The city of Nago in Okinawa prefecture of Japan recently turned the clock back 20 years by commencing dolphin hunting again. Nago hunted dolphins 20 years ago but stopped after receiving bad publicity over the practice – much as Taiji does today.
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Continued hunting of bowheads
(Added: 07 February 2008)
NOAA Fisheries Service has released a final environmental impact statement (EIS) proposing continued hunting of bowhead whales in Alaska.
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Costa Rica takes steps to protect cetaceans
(Added: 23 January 2008)
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and Environmental Minister Robert Dobles recently signed a decree to protect whales and dolphins from being hunted in Costa Rican waters.
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Plans to build giant whaling ship
(Added: 22 January 2008)
Japanese officials have confirmed plans to build a supersized whaling mother ship. Iwata Tsuyoshi - deputy director of the whaling division of Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, recently said discussions had taken place regarding a replacement for the factory ship Nisshin Maru which he says is old and unsuitable for the research Japan wants to conduct in the future. Commissioning a new mother ship would commit Japan to at least 40 more years of whaling.
Makah tribe postpones hearing
(Added: 21 January 2008)
A trial date was supposed to be set this week for five Makah Indians accused of illegally killing a gray whale last year, but the tribal court has postponed the hearing due to the tribe's former chief judge’s contract not being renewed - (see previous article posted on 10 September 2007). The whalers also face charges in a US court which is scheduled to start on March 18 in Tacoma.
Australia acts on whaling issue
(Added: 15 January 2008)
In a purely symbolic act but one that could inflame bilateral ties, an Australian court has ruled that a Japanese whaling company broke environment laws by killing whales in Australia's Antarctic waters.
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Tons of whale meat seized
(Added: 14 January 2008)
Police in South Korea have broken an illegal whale poaching racket, confiscating more than 50 tons of minke meat in the largest seizure of its kind in the country.
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Threat to vulnerable dolphin population
(Added: 11 January 2008)
The death of a large number of fish along the stretch of river Ganga, close to 50-km long Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary in Bhagalpur district of Bihar, is causing concern among authorities and environmentalists. According to forest officials the death of so many fish may pose a serious threat to the endangered dolphin in river Ganga namely the Ganges river dolphin, or susu (Platanista gangetica).
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What lengths will you go to help protect them - 5km?
(Added: 03 January 2008)
This is your opportunity to take part in a 5km run on Sunday 11th May 2008 at London's Regents Park, the largest grass area for sports in Central London.
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Japan suspends humpback whale hunt
(Added: 21 December 2007)
Japan has suspended its first humpback whale hunt in seas off Antarctica since the 1960s. They dropped the planned taking of 50 humpbacks which have been off-limits to commercial hunting since 1966 at the behest of the United States , the chair of the International Whaling Commission, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura. The suspension will last a year or two but there will be no changes to Japan 's stance on their other research whaling.
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Whale count in the Antarctic
(Added: 18 December 2007)
Australian researchers are to begin an aerial count of whales in the Antarctic ahead of the Japanese hunt. A team from the new Australian Centre for Applied Marine Mammal Science will spend several weeks flying over 150,000 square km of pack ice off eastern Antarctica to count minke whales from the air.
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Dolphin protection decision delayed
(Added: 04 December 2007)
The New Zealand government has delayed a final decision on how best to protect one of the world's rarest dolphins. They had been looking at bringing in permanent restrictions on set nets in areas where the Hector’s dolphins are found before Christmas but the Ministry of Fisheries says as it has had more than 2,000 public submissions on the management plan for the mammals, they wants more time to consider them. There as few as 8,000 left.
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Is there hidden treasure in your household clutter?
(Added: 30 November 2007)
Are you interested in taking part in a new TV programme to help raise some cash to share between your family and also help a good cause, if so we want to hear from you.
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Jet skier in court for harassing dolphins
(Added: 27 November 2007)
A skipper and his passengers out on a sea-life cruise in the Moray Firth, Scotland watched a jet-skier ride into a family of dolphins and send them into a panic, a court has heard. The large group of around 20 animals became stressed when they were chased through the water by the jet-skier, diving under the water and returning to the surface only seconds later to breathe.
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London Festival of Diving - see you there
(Added: 27 November 2007)
Divers in and around London will once again gather at the London Festival of Diving on Sunday 2 December, for a full-on day of speakers, workshops and socialising.
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