OceanCare Blog
About Christmas and Crowdfunding for whale killing, Japan’s whaling continues
Three years have passed since Japan announced it would leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the global organisation which regulates whaling and the conservation of whale populations, and which banned commercial whaling worldwide in 1986. The announcement...
The Sad Story of a 21st Century Whale
Vision for the International Whaling Commission (IWC) In early December, the International Whaling Commission celebrated its 75th anniversary and working with several other conservation and welfare organisations, OceanCare hosted an on-line event to mark this occasion...
Vaquita – losing the struggle for survival
It’s 30 years now that the Vaquita, a small porpoise species restricted to the northern Gulf of California, Mexico, was classified as “endangered” on the Red List. Today, no more than 9 (nine) vaquitas are left – living relics with a gene pool already too small to...
Whale recovery threat from climate change – the Antarctic evidence
When widespread commercial whaling stopped after the International Whaling Commission’s moratorium came into force in 1986, there was a reasonable expectation that some whale populations would recover. However, a red flag of concern has just been raised for one great...
When the walrus comes knocking: a reflection on Wally and other out-of-habitat marine mammals
photo: copyright by Dan Jarvis, BDMLR What do you do if a walrus suddenly turns up in your ‘backyard’ far from its natural home? This is a dilemma that many people have been facing over the last few months as the world’s most famous walrus, Wally, made his grand tour...
Major oil spill off California again threatens Wildlife
A large oil slick off the coast of Orange County in the USA has started to wash ashore over the weekend affecting wildlife and wetlands. The slick is said to cover some 13 square miles (33 sq km) and is estimated in press reports at about 126,000 gallons (572,807...
Is the European Union doing enough to protect marine biodiversity in the high seas treaty negotiations?
Spain must step up and get the EU to revise its worrying stance on environmental impact assessment of activities that may cause transboundary pollution in the negotiations on the UN treaty on the governance of the high seas. Spain, as a country with a long maritime...
There is another world, but it is in this one
("Il y a un autre monde, mais il est dans celui-ci", Paul Éluard) In recent days and weeks, we have been stunned to see how a strange meteorological phenomenon called "heat dome" is causing temperatures of almost 50 ºC, which is unprecedented in the western US and in...
A global registry on fossil fuel reserves
A necessary tool to comply with the Paris agreement June 2021: With the decision to ban the search for new hydrocarbon resources throughout the national territory (land and maritime, including the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone and the continental...
The ‘Exceptionists’: The Swiss Approach to the Plastic Crisis
If a quizmaster would ask you to name something associated with Swiss nature, I’d guess that “green meadows”, “pure mountain air” and “clean lakes and rivers” would be on top of the list. Indeed, the widespread image of Switzerland is often associated by pristine...