In August 2025, the carcasses of 23 pilot whales were discovered on the beach of the remote Scottish island of Sande Island. The group included a 7-meter-long male whale, calves, and a pregnant female. The bodies had been decomposing for several days, with the estimated time of death exceeding 72 hours. This tragedy follows last…

Research from Stanford University found that blue whales may accidentally ingest up to 10 million microplastics per day, with their feeding depth (50–250 meters) coinciding with the peak plastic concentration zone of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. As the primary food source for blue whales, krill contain microplastics that, when combined with heavy metals, amplify…

As Arctic sea ice melts at an accelerated rate, two genetically distinct orca populations have established habitats near Baffin Island, Canada. Monitoring in the summer of 2025 revealed that killer whale activity had expanded further north into the Chukchi Sea, directly conflicting with the endangered Arctic bowhead whale. An adult bowhead whale was observed with…

On August 2, 2025, a collision between a cruise ship and a minke whale in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, U.S., resulted in the death of the 20-foot whale and a passenger on the ship being thrown into the water by the force of the impact. Eyewitness video showed the whale attempting to swim to deeper…

The Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (NIMR) has found that 10,000 tons of cargo ship noise can cause Alzheimer’s-like brain lesions in cetaceans within 50 kilometers of the ship.2025 An autopsy of a mass stranding of four sperm whales in the Mediterranean Sea in July showed bursting damage to the inner ear tissue from the…

80% of North Atlantic right whales that follow climate change-induced food migration routes and stray into snow crab fisheries experience at least one rope entanglement in their lifetime. A humpback whale in Southern California, USA, was strangled under the skin with dozens of meters of nylon rope, and it took rescuers 72 hours to complete…

The European Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) reports that more than 35,000 harbor porpoises die each year in European waters as a result of gillnet bycatch, and that bycatch of common dolphins has risen significantly since 2020. In addition, sperm whales in Scottish waters have been found unable to feed due to entanglement in discarded fishing…

On July 21, 2025, a decomposing humpback whale carcass washed up on São Conrado Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the height of the Southern Hemisphere humpback whale migration. Although it is difficult to determine the immediate cause of death due to the high level of decomposition of the carcass, experts have suggested that…

On July 20, 2025, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced the official launch of WhaleChain, the world’s first blockchain platform for cetacean sanctuaries. This groundbreaking project builds a global fishing gear tracking network and a digital archive of endangered cetaceans through blockchain technology, and the first 200 fishing vessels connected to the platform have already…

New research from Fisheries and Oceans Canada reveals that male beluga whales in the Eastern Beaufort Sea (EBS) are suffering from the double whammy of climate change and shipping expansion. Despite a year-on-year decline in Arctic sea ice cover, beluga whales stubbornly choose to feed at depths of 350-750 meters, a behavior that is closely…