OceanCare Blog
A seal in pain
On a recent visit to a seal colony in northwest Wales in the UK, OceanCare’s Director of Science, Mark Simmonds, spotted the animal in this photograph and we are sorry if this image causes anyone distress but we wanted her story to be known.She was sitting a little...
Iceland kills first fin whale in four years
Iceland has resumed the hunting of fin whales in the northeast Atlantic. This new whaling season is one that many of us had hoped would not start and especially after the Icelandic Fisheries minister boldly highlighted earlier this year that their whaling made no...
When night becomes day – a newly recognized problem
Laetitia Nunny and Mark Simmonds Do you ever look up at the night sky and feel that the stars are disappearing; and somehow, they seem less bright than they used to be? This is one facet of a phenomenon coming increasingly into focus as a significant threat to wild...
Plastic in human blood – How much more proof do we need before we act?
New research has found plastic particles in human blood samples. In 1972, we were warned for the first time about the dangers of plastic pollution, as researchers that year published two (1, 2) studies on the widespread presence of plastic particles in the ocean. In...
Environmental Multilateralism At Work: Final Round of UN High Seas Treaty Negotiations
The start to 2022 has been a busy time for global environmental multilateralism. Early February governments assembled in Brest, France for the One Ocean Summit, introducing the newly formed High Ambition Coalition (HAC) on biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction...
Why Iceland’s announcement that it is abandoning whaling is so important.
Fin whales are magnificent. They are huge (weighing 30-80 tonnes and up to 26 m in length), streamlined and fast. I have had the privilege of being out in the high seas among them. Even when travelling at the surface, they surge effortlessly through the waves putting...
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...