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Southern California cargo ships to slow down
Southern California encourages cargo ships to slow down in order to protect whales: According to Reuters, in July, Southern California began to implement a program to encourage cargo ships to slow down, on a four-month trial basis, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District and the Environmental…
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South Pacific nations join forces to protect cetaceans’ home
New Zealand’s Minister for Natural Resources Conservation, Chris Carter, says a number of countries in the South Pacific will sign an agreement to protect cetaceans and dolphins. The Memorandum of Understanding, based on the International Migratory Species Conservation Regulations (IMSCR), will be signed by at least 11 countries in the South Pacific, and sets out…
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Rescue of Life
On November 14, 2024, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations released a video documenting the rescue of an orca stranded on a beach in the village of Ustivo on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The young female orca was stranded on a beach in the Sea of Okhotsk at low tide, unable to breathe properly and with…
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Stranding of Sooty’s middle-beaked whale in the UK: a marine ecological wake-up call
On November 2, 2024, a rare carcass of a Sooty mid-beaked whale was seen on Wyke Regis Beach in Dorset, England. This is the eighth recorded sighting of this deep-sea cetacean in British waters, which is extremely rare. The stranding is of great concern to scientists and marine conservation organizations, as Sooty’s medium-beaked whales typically…
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Delay in California Crabbing Season
For the sixth year in a row, California officials delayed the Bay Area Dungeness crab season in 2024. The move was made to avoid whales becoming entangled in fishing gear. Although it disrupts fishermen’s plans, it is significant to protect the whales and provides a lesson in ecological conservation for other regions.
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IMO whale protection proposal: an umbrella for the giants of the sea
The International Maritime Organization has adopted a proposal to protect endangered blue, fin, and humpback whales off the coast of California that goes into effect in the summer of 2023. The proposal expands the area to be avoided by ship traffic to cover an estimated 4,476 square nautical miles of whale feeding habitat, and extends…
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South Africa goes all out to protect cetaceans, suspends coastal octopus fishing operations
November 9, 2024 – South Africa’s Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Cressy, has said that a moratorium on octopus fishing off the country’s coasts will be in place from November 15 in order to protect large marine mammals such as cetaceans. September 27-29 is the annual “Whale Festival” in the South African coastal…
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Building a Dike for Small Cetacean Conservation
On October 22, 2024, the International Symposium on Small Cetacean Conservation was held in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Small cetacean experts from many countries and regions, as well as domestic experts in related fields, participated in the symposium and discussed the current situation, challenges and countermeasures for the conservation of small cetaceans. After the meeting,…
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Death of a humpback whale: tragedy triggered by speeding ferries
On October 18, 2024, a humpback whale in French Polynesia was struck by a speeding ferry, severing its upper jaw and spewing blood from the wound. Local marine conservation organizations responded to the incident, but the whale drowned because it was unable to surface due to an injury to its snout. The wildlife conservation organization…
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IMO 提案：加利福尼亚沿海鲸鱼的保护伞
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted a proposal to protect whales off the coast of California by expanding the area to be avoided by ship traffic to cover approximately 4,476 square nautical miles of whale feeding habitat and extending ship traffic lanes to the west of, in and around the Channel Islands National Marine…