WDCS has condemned the decision by Inverness Marina to allow four new commercial berths, including two for new dolphin watching boats, in the protected habitat of the inner Moray Firth, a move which potentially puts the Firths resident (protected) dolphin population at even greater risk.

Humpbacks on death row get ‘stay of execution’ for next few weeks

Dark clouds loom over the Future of the IWC

St.Petersburg, USA, 4th of March 2010: Against a background of furious debate, procedural ‘sleight of hand’ and scientific uncertainty, humpback whales have been granted a reprieve from a renewed hunt.

Andrew Darby writing for the Sydney Morning Herald reports that the Canbera Government is back away from its preferred option of a complete phase out of all Antarctic whaling.

AP reports that Sea World orca shows began with an emotional tribute to the Dawn Brancheau who dies last Wednesday.

AP reports that  employees wept and audience members grew silent Saturday at SeaWorld as the theme parks popular killer whale show resumed with a photo montage memorial for a trainer who was killed by one of the orcas in front of horrified spectators three days ago.

The show had been shut down since veteran trainer Dawn Brancheau, 40, died Wednesday after rubbing a 22-foot, 12,000-pound orca named Tilikum.

Initial reports coming out of the USA suggest that the myth of Shamu has been shattered for one individual and their family when a trainer was killed by a captive orca.

The LA Times is reporting that a Sea World guest Victoria Biniak told Local 6 that the trainer was a veteran of SeaWorld and had just finished explaining to the audience what they would see during the performance.

The Faroe Island Statistical office has published the official numbers for the 2009 drive hunt.  The statistics show that a total of 310 pilot whales, 174 whitebeaked dolphins, 2 bottlenose whales and 1 bottlenose dolphin were killed in three separate grinds, or drive hunts. 2008 had been the first year in decades (centuries?) without a pilot whale hunt, and WDCS laments the fact that the hunt for pilot whales resumed in 2009.