Science: Top news
Scientists have developed new methods of studying dolphins and whales that don't harm the animals. One way to study whale numbers is to identify each individual in a population. Here's where photo identification comes into play.
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Thousands of whales were wiped out in the Antarctic Ocean. Now, after commercial whaling was brought to an end in the Southern Ocean, whales are making a comeback. But they aren't the same whales off South Georgia Island.
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A recent analysis by scientists, adopted by the IWC Scientific Committee, shows what many opponents of the Taiji dolphin hunts have feared -- the hunts are depleting several dolphin species along the coast of Japan, leading the dolphin hunters to go after other species, while still killing the depleted species.
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Sometimes whales and dolphins don't stay in the ocean, but come up on shore. Why do they do this, as individuals and sometimes as whole pods of animals? There are many reasons, but too often such strandings end in tragedy.
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Few people have had as much impact in protecting and studying whales as Dr. Roger Payne. Roger died last week, and those of us who knew him will miss his support, his counsel, and his zest for life.
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A new study, based on interviews with fishermen, estimates that 2% of plastic fishing gear (nets and lines) is lost every year in our oceans. Some of this gear winds up continuing to entangle fish, marine mammals, and other marine life.
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No one is better known in the whale research community than Ken Balcomb. He died last December 15th, leaving a lasting legacy of orca and whale research, conservation advocacy, and his many students and friends.
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Our oceans are being saturated with human-caused noise. There can be great harm to dolphins, whales and other marine life from various sources of intense noise in our oceans from oil exploration and drilling, military sonars, ship traffic, and other sources.
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It’s often difficult to empathize with tragedies that occur far from home. We frequently fall into the bystander role. But as the effects of climate change worsen and become more visible, we cannot afford to continue following a behavior chain of ignorance and disengagement.
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The International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) of Earth Island Institute helped develop and is consulting on a lawsuit against SeaWorld (Anderson v SeaWorld), contending that the mega corporation has been deliberately lying to the public about the health and welfare of their orcas in captivity. SeaWorld is being called-out on these lies, as never before, because of the groundbreaking legal battle we’ve been waging on behalf of captive orcas for more than five years! Usually SeaWorld bullies their way through litigation. They’re a multi-billion dollar company and pay multiple aggressive hired-gun attorney teams to do their bidding. But this time, all five of SeaWorld’s attempts to have the case, Anderson v SeaWorld, dismissed have been denied. Their efforts to further delay and drag out the case and keep scientific expert witness reports sealed by the court and kept secret, are crumbling.
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Campaign Top News
- International Marine Mammal Project >
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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.
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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!
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There's a lot of whale and dolphin jargon out there. Here's some explanations about what we know about cetaceans.
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- Save Japan Dolphins >
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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.
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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!
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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.
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- Dolphin + Whale Project >
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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.
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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.
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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.
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- Keiko Whale Rescue >
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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.
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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!
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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.
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- Dolphin Safe Fishing >
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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.
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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.
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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.
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- Freeing Orca Whales from Captivity >
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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.
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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.
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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!
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- Freeing Wikie & Keijo >