Keiko Whale Rescue: Top news
We are deeply saddened at the death of orca whale Tokitae. Calls for her release were denied for decades and it’s shameful that she never got a chance to go home.
Read More >
30 years ago, the movie "Free Willy" was a huge hit. The plight of its orca star, Keiko, touched the public along with the moving story. Read how the International Marine Mammal Project took that spark of concern and returned Keiko to his home waters. SeaWorld and other captive dolphin parks would never be the same!
Read More >
The last captive orca in Canada, Kiska, has died, after being kept alone for twelve years at the notorious MarineLand park in Niagara Falls. If Tokitae (Lolita) goes home to a seaside sanctuary, the only North American captive orcas will be those in SeaWorld's three parks.
Read More >
2023 is the 30th anniversary of the release of "Free Willy", the film that popularized the issues raised by keeping orcas in captivity in small concrete tanks. Dave Phillips, who spearheaded the rehabilitation and release of Keiko, the orca star of the movie, speaks to the BBC about the successful (and so far only) release of a captive orca.
Read More >
The Miami Seaquarium owners have stated they are all in favor of efforts to move Tokitae, the female orca who has performed for 50 years, into retirement, possibly to a seaside sanctuary in her home waters. A major barrier to bringing her home has been removed.
Read More >
A young artist put together a nice graphic for the International Marine Mammal Project about the harm captivity does to orcas.
Read More >
As we enter a new year, the International Marine Mammal Project is still hard at work laying out our plans and hopes to help save whales, dolphins, and their ocean homes.
Read More >
Our Orca Hour virtual presentation features Earth Island's David Phillips and Sumona Manjumdar in a lively discussion of how Keiko, the orca star of "Free Willy", was successfully rescued, rehabilitated and released into his home waters, leading to our landmark lawsuit against the false statements of SeaWorld.
Read More >
Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut has asked the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for permission to import five beluga whales from Canada’s Marineland park at Niagara Falls. The International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) of Earth Island Institute and many other organizations and members of the public strongly oppose the import. While Mystic claims the purpose of the import is to conduct scientific research on the beluga whales, the real purpose behind the import is to provide more breeding stock for captive whales to produce yet more captive cetaceans for the US captivity industry.
Read More >
In a letter delivered to congressional leaders on Monday, July 20th, the International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) of Earth Island Institute, Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), and 17 other animal protection and conservation groups urged lawmakers to require that any aquarium or marine theme park benefiting from COVID-19 emergency funds take steps to phase out the captivity of whales and dolphins.
Read More >
Campaign Top News
- International Marine Mammal Project >
-
-
From freeing Keiko to saving millions of dolphins from dying in tuna nets, to closing down marine parks including the notorious Whale Jail in Russia, the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute has been in the forefront of efforts to end whaling, the killing of dolphins and protecting the ocean homes of these magnificent beings.
-
From the cold reaches of the Russian coast, to Japan's notorious Cove, to global tuna fleets, to Barataria Bay, to the concrete tanks of SeaWorld - the International Marine Mammal Project had key accomplishments for whales and dolphins, thanks to your support!
-
There's a lot of whale and dolphin jargon out there. Here's some explanations about what we know about cetaceans.
- More Stories >
-
- Save Japan Dolphins >
-
-
Sale of live dolphins caught in the bloody Cove of Taiji, Japan, subsidizes the subsequent slaughter of the remaining dolphin pod. So a dolphin is torn from its family, and then will hear its own family die as it is dragged away to a miserable existence in concrete tanks for the rest of its life.
-
TAIJI DOLPHIN SLAUGHTER: Police in Taiji like to put on a big show for locals by charging around in zodiacs, pretending to catch "eco-terrorists" who might (but never have) interfered with the dolphin slaughter. To them, the hunts are a big joke. Japanese tax dollars at work!
-
Taiji's town government appears to be doubling down on whaling and the slaughter of dolphins. They have a new International Cetacean Center that appears to be dedicated to killing cetaceans. But the $12.2 million Center is virtually empty -- see our photos.
- More Stories >
-
- Dolphin + Whale Project >
-
-
The recent International Whaling Commission meeting in Lima, Peru, passed an excellent resolution complaining that whaling countries -- Japan, Iceland and Norway -- are using population estimates larger than the IWC Scientific Committee. But a proposal for a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary fell short by one vote.
-
Cetaceans (whales and dolphins) have evolved amazing and complex sensory mechanisms to live in the ocean. But those senses are badly compromised when cetaceans are held in small concrete tanks for entertainment. Learn about why captivity is bad for cetacean senses.
-
Josh Floum, attorney and president of Earth Island Institute, has led the legal effort to protect dolphins, sea turtles, and other marine life. In legal victory after victory, he's made our oceans safer for all our lives.
- More Stories >
-
- Keiko Whale Rescue >
-
-
We are deeply saddened at the death of orca whale Tokitae. Calls for her release were denied for decades and it’s shameful that she never got a chance to go home.
-
30 years ago, the movie "Free Willy" was a huge hit. The plight of its orca star, Keiko, touched the public along with the moving story. Read how the International Marine Mammal Project took that spark of concern and returned Keiko to his home waters. SeaWorld and other captive dolphin parks would never be the same!
-
The last captive orca in Canada, Kiska, has died, after being kept alone for twelve years at the notorious MarineLand park in Niagara Falls. If Tokitae (Lolita) goes home to a seaside sanctuary, the only North American captive orcas will be those in SeaWorld's three parks.
- More Stories >
-
- Dolphin Safe Fishing >
-
-
Dr. Angel Herrera is the Director of the International Marine Mammal Project’s (IMMP’s) Dolphin Safe (DS) Tuna Monitoring Program in Latin America. As a representative of Earth Island Institute since 1993, his DS monitoring work spans countries including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panamá, Peru, and Uruguay.
-
For more than 30 years, Trixie Concepcion and her staff have worked to protect dolphins and other marine life in the Philippines, monitoring tuna fishing in the Western and Central Pacific Oceans to ensure the tuna is caught by Dolphin Safe methods, saving the lives of tens of thousands of dolphins annually.
-
The history of the drowning of millions of dolphins by the tuna industry turned a corner in 1990, when US tuna giants agreed to work with the International Marine Mammal Project to establish Dolphin Safe fishing standards that avoid harm to dolphins and other marine life.
- More Stories >
-
- Freeing Orca Whales from Captivity >
-
-
Behind the life and hopes with Keiko, the orca star of "Free Willy", was an enormous effort to bring him home. A new Serial podcast features a 6-part series on Keiko and his legacy. First two episodes drop on November 14th and can be found on most podcast sites. It features the role of IMMP in coordinating the Free Willy Keiko Foundation.
-
There are just 18 orcas left stranded in concrete tanks in North America. They can continue to languish in small tanks doing tricks each day, or they can be retired to seaside sanctuaries, such as the Whale Sanctuary Project.
-
Orcas, beluga whales, and other cetaceans do poorly in sterile concrete tanks. A spate of premature deaths of orcas in facilities around the world underscores why captivity should end!
- More Stories >
-
- Freeing Wikie & Keijo >