Today is Giving Tuesday.

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Firstly, I wanted to say thank you so much, your support reminds us that so many people like you care about protecting whales and dolphins.

Today is Giving Tuesday, a day when everyone, everywhere can do something to support the good causes that mean so much. I hope you may be able to help with a project which is close to my heart, our citizen science project, Shorewatch. I have the joy of working with over 200 Shorewatch volunteers who take part in 10-minute land-based surveys for whales and dolphins off the coast of Scotland. My wish is to expand this project to recruit and train more volunteers. 

We have already secured over half the funds. A small gift from you will take us closer to being able to expand Shorewatch and help safeguard whale and dolphin habitats around Scotland. Can you help today?

YES, I WILL DONATE

My favourite species are the Risso’s dolphins, whose big, unique, scar-covered bodies are regularly seen around the Isle of Lewis.  Together, with our Shorewatch volunteers and WDC researchers, we have catalogued around 300 individual Risso’s dolphins and determined that they use this area as a year-round feeding and breeding ground.  In 2020, this hard work led to the Scottish government designating these waters as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) for Risso’s dolphins. But we can’t stop there.

A donation will help protect all species that use this MPA and discover what other species use this area through our Shorewatch volunteers.

We need to raise £40,000 and have already secured £26,000 to support our fieldwork in the Isle of Lewis thanks to RS Macdonald and NatureScot, so your donation today will have an even bigger impact.

I WOULD LIKE TO HELP

​We know times are challenging right now, but we wanted to let you know we are so incredibly grateful for your support .

Katie Dyke, Shorewatch Coordinator

We take your privacy and the protection of your personal data seriously. Please read our privacy policy; this explains how we collect, store and manage your information.

You helped keep the ban on hunting whales

Our expert team has been at the meeting of the International Whaling Commission. This is where governments make decisions about the conservation of whales.

We were campaigning to make sure the ban on commercial whaling was upheld – and we succeeded. We were also convincing policymakers that we need to save the whale to save the world.

It’s your support that gets us to these meetings where huge decisions are made. Ed Goodall (meet him in the video above) and the team asked me to say a heartfelt ‚thank you so much‘ for the financial and moral support you give them.

Until next month,

Julia Pix

Please consider making a donation today

DONATE NOW

Have you signed yet?

More than 12,000 people have added their names to our letter to travel giant TUI, asking them to help make this generation of captive whales and dolphins the last. There’s still time to sign!

SIGN NOW

Shop with us today

This stunning t-shirt has been designed exclusively for WDC and comes in a choice of colours. It’s just one of the designs in our online shop. Shop with us today knowing that your money is helping whales and dolphins.

SHOP TODAY

Stories from the dark side

Whales and dolphins are too intelligent, too social and too mobile for life in a tank. Witnessing the impact captivity has had on the mental health of individual whales and dolphins really makes this fact hit home. Hear some of their stories.

REAL STORIES

Win £1,000 in our raffle

The Christmas raffle is now open. Just click the button below to play and help protect whales and dolphins. You’ll be in with the chance to win £1,000!  Play by 13 January 2023. Over 18+ and T&Cs apply.

PLAY TODAY

Why do whales strand?

If you’ve seen the heartbreaking images of pilot whales on New Zealand beaches, you might be wondering why whales and dolphins get into trouble like this. It’s WDC scientist Nicola Hodgins’s job to try to answer these questions.

TELL ME WHY

Watching the whalers

With our conservation partner in Iceland, Hard To Port, we raised the alarm with government officials that fired harpoons were failing to explode, prolonging the fin whales‘ agony. The fisheries minister made onboard monitoring compulsory.

FULL STORY

We take your privacy and the protection of your personal data seriously. We recently made some changes to our privacy policy; this explains how we collect, store and manage your information.

Can you help stop captivity for good?

Can you help end the mental health crisis of captive whales and dolphins with a donation today?

Together, we have already persuaded Virgin Holidays, British Airways, Thomas Cook, TripAdvisor and Booking.com to stop selling tickets to captive whale and dolphin attractions and Expedia followed last year.

But there’s still more to do. Instead of signing our open letter to TUI, can you make a donation today to help persuade tour operators to stop funding this cruel practice?

YES, I’LL DONATE

We cannot fight for the mental and physical freedom of whales and dolphins without you. If everyone who received my letter gave a donation of £15, it would help to:

• Communicate your concerns to TUI at the World Travel Market,the leading international travel event
• Present to ABTA, the UK’s largest travel association, to ensure industry welfare guidelines stipulate ALL captive dolphin experiences are unacceptable
• Help tour operators phase out whale and dolphin exploitation and ensure captive individuals no longer have to perform
• Prevent the construction of new captive attractions by applying public pressure, lobbying authorities and implementing tighter in-country welfare legislation
• Work with tour operators and dolphin facilities to create coastal sanctuaries where captive whales and dolphins can ‘retire’ or be released

On behalf of whales and dolphins across the globe, thank you for helping to uncover the dark side of captivity,

Rob Lott, End Captivity campaign lead

DONATE TODAY

We take your privacy and the protection of your personal data seriously. We recently made some changes to our privacy policy; this explains how we collect, store and manage your information.

Have you joined our new campaign yet?

Welcome to your September enews. Before you read on, please take a moment to sign our letter to TUI if you haven’t already (if you have – thank you!). It’ll only take you a few moments.

We need more people to sign to show the world’s largest travel company, TUI, that the public will support them if they choose to help end whale and dolphin captivity. Thank you! 

SIGN NOW

I hope you are enjoying your latest issue of Whale & Dolphin magazine. If you’re not subscribed yet, head over to our website and sign up by adopting a whale or dolphin.

On behalf of everyone here at WDC, thank you for your continued support. It means so much to us in these challenging times. Together, we will keep fighting for a world where every whale and dolphin is safe and free.

Julia Pix.

This is Kiska.

See the world through her eyes and help us uncover the dark side of captivity.

WATCH VIDEO

Uncovering the dark side

Rob Lott leads our work to end captivity – you may have read some emails from him recently. Follow the link below to learn more from Rob about why captivity is so bad for whales‘ and dolphins‘ mental health.

DIVE DEEPER

RIP Kohana

Kohana was the third orca to die in 18 months at Loro Parque in Tenerife. She was just 20 years old. She’d been held at the park since she was taken from her mother, aged four, and moved there from SeaWorld with three other young orcas.

FULL STORY

The Whale Watchers

The brilliant Dougie Poynter from McFly is passionate about the natural world, so our partners at BRITA commissioned him to write children’s book, The Whale Watchers. A minimum of 25% of the profits come to WDC.

BUY YOUR COPY

One for the kids

Have you introduced the children in your life to our new(ish) website just for kids? It’s packed with fun facts and mind-blowing whale and dolphin knowledge. Take a look.

ENTER KIDZONE

Ocean protection needed

Most of the ocean falls beyond human country borders. The high seas are home to some of Earth’s last wildernesses and countless whales and dolphins, but as they are not the responsibility of any country, who protects them?

READ MORE

Remembering lives lost

A year on from the massacre of 1,423 dolphins in the Faroe Islands, we reflect on what’s changed. Despite protests from within the Faroes and international condemnation, including our 1.3-million-strong petition, things have got worse. 

LEARN MORE

We take your privacy and the protection of your personal data seriously. We recently made some changes to our privacy policy; this explains how we collect, store and manage your information.

Sign now whales and dolphins need your help

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We need your help today

The world is a dark place for captive whales and dolphins. Today we launch a major new campaign to shine a light on the dark side of captivity. Please support by signing a letter to TUI.

SIGN NOW

Depressed. Drugged. Desperate. See the world through a captive whale or dolphin’s eyes and help uncover the #DarkSideofCaptivty.

Whales and dolphins like Kiska (pictured below) are intelligent, emotional, social, far-travelling beings. Like us, their mental health suffers when they are confined to the same space, day after day and their choice about how to spend their days is removed.

Yet they are torn from the wild, kept in tanks and exhibited for our entertainment. Many are still forced to perform in shows or interact with tourists in so-called ‘bucket list’ activities like swim-with-the-dolphins experiences.

Holiday companies fuel this whale and dolphin mental health crisis by promoting these ‘attractions’ to their customers. 

This is Kiska. See the world through her eyes and help us uncover the #DarkSideOfCaptivty

Thanks to your support, we have already persuaded Virgin Holidays, British Airways, Thomas Cook, TripAdvisor and Booking.com to stop selling tickets to captive whale and dolphin attractions and Expedia followed last year. Now we need your help again to convince TUI to shake off the cruel past and pioneer a kinder, more sustainable future for tourism.

Since we presented TUI with a petition in April, signed by more than 20,000 of you, we have been talking with them about how we can help them to promote an ethical phase-out of captivity. Please sign the letter to show them you care.

Thank you for your support. It means the world to know that captive whales and dolphins can count on you. Together, we can make sure this captive generation is the last.

Rob Lott, End Captivity campaign lead

SIGN NOW

We take your privacy and the protection of your personal data seriously. We recently made some changes to our privacy policy; this explains how we collect, store and manage your information.

Thank you so much!

At Whale and Dolphin Conservation, we are lucky to have the best supporters in the world. On behalf of all of us at WDC, and the whales and dolphins we speak up for, I wanted to thank you for getting behind our campaigns.

Today, our End Captivity campaigner Rob Lott is representing more than 20,000 of you as he takes our Lockdown Never Ends petition to TUI’s corporate office in Berlin and asks the world’s largest tour operator to stop supporting cruel whale and dolphin captivity.

I also want to thank you for supporting our Not In Our Nets campaign by tweeting and emailing in your thousands to urge ministers to stop dolphins, porpoises and whales dying in fishing gear in UK seas.

Your support is vital for campaigns like these. Politicians have to take notice of what the voting public wants, and big corporations like TUI respond to customer pressure. There is strength in numbers and we are more powerful when we show that we represent you, our brilliant supporters.

I’ll update you on both of these major campaigns next month. In the meantime, thank you from all of us for standing up for whales and dolphins.

Julia Pix, WDC

Please consider helping our campaign with a donation 

YES, I’ll DONATE

#NotInOurNets

This humpback whale died off the coast of Scotland. You can see the fishing rope and pot tangled around his flipper. Sarah Dolman leads our work to prevent deaths in nets and she explains why the time for UK government action is now.

LEARN MORE

Little steps for whales

At the first sanctuary for whales who have been held captive for entertainment, the expert care team are excited. A new development will help ensure a safe and successful transition for the whales from the sea care pools to the main sea bay.

FIND OUT MORE

Orca beach secrets

Rubbing on pebbles is a generations-old cultural tradition for a particular group of orcas off the coast of British Columbia, Canada.  Cameras allow our partners at OrcaLab to take you right into the orcas‘ fascinating, hidden world.

WATCH VIDEO

First blood

Norway’s whalers slaughtered the first minke whale of their hunt season on 11th April. Last year they killed 575 whales, making it the deadliest whaling season since 2016. Sixteen vessels have registered to hunt this year.

FULL STORY

Games offer

We’ve teamed up with Humble Bundle, a games and entertainment software company providing awesome affordable content whilst donating proceeds to charity. For a limited time, you can get an incredible Dungeon Defenders legendary games collection. Pay what you want and every purchase supports our work! 

FIND OUT MORE

We take your privacy and the protection of your personal data seriously. We recently made some changes to our privacy policy; this explains how we collect, store and manage your information.

UK dolphins, porpoises and whales need your help 

More than 1,000 dolphins, porpoises and whales die in fishing gear in UK seas every year. That’s a shocking number, but what’s even more shocking is that our governments know what they need to do to save them.

Tell ministers this isn’t good enough and that you expect urgent action.

ACT NOW

It’s easy to have your say – just follow the link to our action page where you can send our ready-made email and/or a prepared tweet.

Getting tangled in fishing gear is a horrible way to die. We know how to prevent this suffering, yet around 1,000 porpoises, hundreds of dolphins and at least 32 minke whales and six humpback whales die this way in UK waters every year. Government action could stop these awful deaths.

A public consultation on this issue is open until 12th April, so NOW is our chance to tell government ministers they MUST do better.

It’ll take less than five minutes of your time but could save the lives of whales and dolphins around the UK.

Thank you for your support – it means a lot.

Julia Pix, WDC

ACT NOW

She deserved better

This young dolphin died in a fishing net off the coast of Cornwall last year. Our governments have known for 30 years that dolphins are dying in nets in huge numbers in UK seas. But they have failed to act to save them. 

WHAT’S BEEN DONE?

Welsh turbine trouble

A proposal for underwater tidal turbines in an area where porpoises and Risso’s dolphins come to feed and raise their newborns is threatening the West Wales Marine Special Area of Conservation and the wildlife it protects.

FULL STORY

Get drastic on plastic

You’ve seen pictures of plastic litter on beaches or marine wildlife swimming through floating rubbish and you’ve probably wondered if and how we could ever clean up this mess.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Show’s over for Lolita

The orca known as Lolita or Tokitae will no longer perform at Miami Seaquarium. Held captive for over 50 years, and alone for 42 of them, her life has been far from the one she should have enjoyed in the ocean.

FIND OUT MORE

Fin whales in danger

The man behind Iceland’s fin whaling company has hit back at announcements that Icelandic whale hunting could be ending for good. He’s told media that he hopes to slaughter fin whales this summer.

FULL STORY

Wine, whales and planet

Waipapa Bay are the latest to join our Climate Giant Project. Find out more about our partnership and how to get your hands on their delicious wine.

MORE INFO

We take your privacy and the protection of your personal data seriously. We recently made some changes to our privacy policy; this explains how we collect, store and manage your information.

Look what you’ve achieved for whales and dolphins …

We made amazing things happen in 2021. We’re so proud of everything we’ve achieved for whales and dolphins in the last year by standing shoulder to shoulder with all our brilliant supporters. Thank you so much for being with us – it means the world.

Together we:

🐋 Put whales and the ocean on the climate agenda at COP26

🐬 Lobbied the UK and devolved governments to act to stop dolphins, porpoises and whales dying in fishing gear

🐋 Convinced Asda to work with their suppliers to make fishing safer for whales and dolphins

🐬 Kept the pressure on TUI to help end lockdown for captive whales and dolphins

🐋 Petitioned the Norwegian government to abandon cruel plans for hearing tests on wild minke whales

We made this video for you and I hope the whales and dolphins in it brighten your day.

Every penny you give, every petition you sign and every campaign you share makes a difference. Together, we will create a world where every whale and dolphin is safe and free.

On behalf of the whales and dolphins and everyone at WDC, thank you for being with us. 

Julia Pix, WDC

Faroes – horror to hope 

Change needs to come from within the Faroe Islands and so after the massacre of 1,423 Atlantic white-sided dolphins, we hired Faroese campaigner Marna Frida Olsen to help us find a way to end the cruel hunts in her home country. FIND OUT MORE

Valentine’s Day gifts

If you’re looking for a gift, we’ve got you covered in our online shop. You’ll find ideas for friends, partners, pets or anyone needing some affection. And we’ll show whales and dolphins some love with every penny you spend.GET INSPIRED

Saving whale lives 

Around five humpbacks and 30 minke whales die after getting caught in fishing rope in Scotland every year. No fisher wants this to happen and it can be heart breaking when it does. So we’re helping them to avoid whale entanglements.FIND OUT HOW

UK government falls short

The UK environment minister promised to make 2021 a ’super year‘ for marine protection. A year on and they’ve failed to keep this promise, making progress in just two of the 17 areas we scrutinised.FULL STORY

Whale-sized donation

Our efforts to stop Faroese dolphin hunts and prevent whale and dolphin deaths in fishing gear have received a whaley big boost from gaming content creators and long-term supporters The Yogscast who raised a whopping £264,000 for us.HOW THIS DONATION WILL HELP

Did orcas rescue whale?

Orcas were filmed appearing to free a humpback from a rope that had got wrapped around the whale’s tail. It’s left experts puzzled and reminds us that we really know so little about these intelligent, complex beings.WATCH DRONE FOOTAGE

Please make a donation because you can help us achieve even more in 2022

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