North Atlantic Right Whale Population Trends Worries Scientists: Lowest Since 2010
For more than 40 years, a group of researchers in New England (US) have been monitoring the population of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, by photographing them and tracking their movements throughout their extensive range. The whales migrate from their feeding grounds off the north-eastern coast of the US and Canada, to the […]
IWC Extinction Alert: vaquita porpoise
Scientific Committee issues first ever extinction alert: grave concern for the survival of the vaquita porpoise “Despite nearly thirty years of repeated warnings, the vaquita hovers on the edge of extinction due to gillnet entanglement.” The plight of the vaquita porpoise has led the Scientific Committee of the IWC to issue its first ever Extinction […]
Whale strandings highlight an urgent need for practical solutions
In recent months, along the East Coast of the United States, humpback whales have been experiencing what’s known as an Unusual Mortality Event, with an elevated number of strandings being reported since 2016. While necropsies are still being performed, initial results from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center indicated that at least 2 whales of the recent strandings […]
New Research Redefines Habitat-use of North Atlantic Right Whales
With fewer than 350 North Atlantic Right whales remaining, obtaining a better understanding of their movements and habitat use is crucial to the species’ survival. A new study published in the journal of Limnology and Oceanography, examined areas that are critical for breeding, feeding and transiting for the North Atlantic Right Whale population across their […]
‘Entangled in Costa Rica’ Special Screening & Discussion
‘Entangled in Costa Rica’ documentary: Special Screening and Discussion with the Filmmaker and Local Scientists ‘Entangled in Costa Rica’ will take you under the waters of the Eastern Tropical Pacific where Innoceana is working to put an end to the brutal and costly net entanglement crisis. In recognition of their work and unwavering passion to […]
IUCN announce funding to protect the Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale
“Restoring Ocean Health” was one of the seven main themes at the IUCN World Conservation Congress that came to a close in Marseille last month. The current climate emergency and the future of our oceans are interlinked, as climate change directly affects the oceans’ temperature and pH levels. Changes in water temperature and ocean acidification directly […]
Guidelines to prevent and reduce bycatch of marine mammals in capture fisheries
The Guidelines to Prevent and Reduce Bycatch of Marine Mammals in Capture Fisheries were produced by FAO in response to the request from the Committee on Fisheries at its Thirty-third Session in 2018 to develop technical guidelines on this subject, and are directed at decision-makers, planners, managers and all those involved in developing and implementing policy and technical interventions which relate to the bycatch of marine mammals in fisheries.