Whale and Dolphin Summer 2017

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE DEATH OF LULU?

FIND OUT WHY WDC SUPPORTERS ARE INSPIRED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

The magazine of WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation

THE FIGHT TAKES

FLIGHT

Autumn 2017 Issue 79

Our campaign to stop travel companies supporting whale and dolphin captivity has had great success, but there is lots more work to do

Dear friends

WDC EDITOR Julia Thoms NEWS EDITOR Danny Groves EDITORIAL BOARD Alison Wood; Rob Lott; Helen Mitchell PUBLISHED BY WDC Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Brookfield House, 38 St Paul Street, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 1LJ, United Kingdom Registered Charity No. 1014705 Registered Company No. 2737421 T +44 (0)1249 449500 (from outside UK) E info@whales.org WDC also has offices in Argentina, Australia, Germany and the USA PATRONS John Craven; Monty Halls; Miranda Krestovnikoff; Michaela Strachan PUBLISHING AND ADVERTISING Managing editor Alec Mackenzie Sub-editor Andrew Littlefield Design Dominic Scott Advertising Alison Fraser Account director Helen Cassidy Think Scotland, Suite 2.3, Red Tree Business Suites, 33 Dalmarnock Road, Glasgow G40 4LA Tel 0141 375 0504

Whale & Dolphin is published four times a year and distributed to WDC supporters, institutions, conservation bodies and others involved in whale and dolphin conservation.

Whale & Dolphin has been printed by Newnorth, on acid-free paper that is produced from sustainable forests. Royal Roto is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), originates in the Netherlands and is produced by SAPPI Europe, which holds ISO 14001 certification and is a member of the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS).

This issue is packed with examples of how WDC is working in partnerships with others to achieve change for whales and dolphins.

We need to hold governments and companies to account. But, where possible, we also need to work with them to achieve effective and lasting change.

If you’ve been following our campaign to stop UK holiday companies selling trips to places like SeaWorld, you’ll know we’ve made giant strides. We’ve done this by working together with our supporters and with the travel industry.

Our partnership with Merlin Entertainments is a shining example of how we work with others to make life better for individual whales and dolphins.

We have some very exciting news for you inside on our beluga sanctuary.

WDC has never been afraid to tackle the most difficult issues such as traditional whaling in developing countries. We have long been fighting against the Japanese government’s manipulation of these communities in order to advance its own commercial whaling. I hope you enjoy reading about our efforts in one such whaling community where we are working with passionate individuals to offer real alternatives to the killing of these intelligent beings.

All these initiatives are based on the partnership we have with you, the people who share our vision and are willing to support us financially to see that vision through to reality. I’m proud to shine a light on a few of you in these pages. Your stories inspire and motivate me and all of us at WDC. Our shared passion and commitment is what will one day create a world where every whale and dolphin is safe and free.

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New outlooks in St Vincent

Chris Butler-Stroud, WDC chief executive

Contributions: WDC cannot guarantee the return of unsolicited articles, photographs etc. Reproduction of articles is not permitted without approval. Opinions expressed in Whale & Dolphin do not necessarily reflect those of WDC. Advertising policy: WDC reserves the right to refuse an advertisement without explanation. WDC does not necessarily endorse any of the products or services advertised. WDC is unable to recommend specific whale watching trips and cannot vouch for the quality of the trips advertised; go to whales.org/ whalewatching for more information on choosing a trip.

ISSN 1470-4595 Main image: Shutterstock Cover image: Shutterstock

04 News facebook.com/ whales.org Sign up to our e-newsletter at whales.org/newsletter @WHALES_org @whaleanddolphinorg

Updates from the world of whales and dolphins, including news on our search for a site for our sea sanctuary for beluga whales

12 Campaigns

Join us in our work to encourage holiday companies to stop supporting the whale and dolphin captivity industry

17 Behind the scenes 24 Gallery Our incredible supporters inspire us with the amazing things they do for whales and dolphins

20 Education

Discover how attitudes towards whales are changing in the tropical paradise of St Vincent and the Grenadines

22 Ask the experts What can we learn from the death of Lulu the orca?

Spectacular images from photographer and sailor Christopher Swann

26 Adoption updates The latest news about your favourite dolphins, humpbacks and orcas

33 Face to face

Sarah Dolman leads our campaign to end bycatch in UK and EU waters Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 3

BREACHING NEWS Reporting from the world of whales and dolphins

INTERNATIONAL

FIRST GAMERS FOR ORCAS CHALLENGE RAISES $100K! Video game fundraiser is a fantastic success

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n Friday 9 June, WDC held our first ever video games fundraising event – the Gamers for Orcas challenge.

The event culminated in a 24-hour ‘livestream’ on Twitch.tv, during which special guest players, YouTube stars and games developers streamed live to a global audience – with over 300,000 people viewing WDC’s channel during the event.

WDC supporters of all ages and from all over the world chose to support WDC by taking on their own gaming marathon challenges, with many of them opting to attempt 24-hours of non-stop gaming. Through the amazing efforts

of our fundraisers and special guest streamers, and from sales of our World Oceans Day video games bundle (available via humblebundle.com), over $100,000 was raised to support WDC’s work to keep whales and dolphins safe and free.

Kendra Ritter, one of our Gamers for Orcas fundraisers, said: “I chose to participate in Gamers for Orcas because orcas are some of the most incredible and intelligent creatures on this planet. I hope to study them in the future, and with such an open opportunity to directly support orca conservation, I couldn’t refuse.

I love to play video games as well, so what better challenge could there be?”

WDC would like to thank all of the companies and individuals who helped to make the event a huge success, in particular WDC partners 505 Games, SEGA and Relic Entertainment, and all of the marvellous streamers, volunteers and WDC fundraisers who were so generous with their time.

GET INVOLVED Inspired to run your own gaming challenge to raise funds for WDC at home, school or at work? Email gamersfororcas@whales.org for more information.

FRANCE

France has banned the breeding of dolphins and orcas. However, the law has not yet been extended to the dolphins who live at Marineland (Antibes), Parc Astérix (Oise), Planète Sauvage (LoireAtlantique) and Moorea Dolphin Centre (French Polynesia).

4 WHALE&DOLPHIN Autumn 2017

New regulations also include a ban on direct contact between captive whales and dolphins and members of the public, including swimming with dolphins. Captive facilities will now be required to make pools significantly larger within the next three years, and

they have six months to comply with most of the other regulations.

This is a significant move by the French government and vindication for WDC. We have worked for decades to end whale and dolphin captivity and public opinion is now changing.

BERNAR D AUTON

BAN ON BREEDING IN CAPTIVITY

N HODGINS

BREACHING NEWS

FAROE ISLANDS

MORE PILOT WHALES DIE IN HUNTS

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INTERNATIONAL

ROW TEAM JOINS FORCES WITH WDC WDC is delighted to partner with the Cause and Effect crew as they prepare to embark on the mammoth Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. Billed as ‘the world’s toughest row’, teams and solo rowers race across the Atlantic. The Cause and Effect crew of four will not only help raise vital funds to keep whales and dolphins safe and free, they will also take on the separate and very important task of contributing to our knowledge of these incredible creatures.

On their way across the Atlantic the crew will record their observations of whales and dolphins and other species, as well as of any plastic and ghost nets they find – two big threats to whales and dolphins. We are very excited about the massive challenge the Cause and Effect crew is undertaking. Their incredible efforts will make a big difference for whales and dolphins and their environment.

population despite ongoing concerns about the long-term health implications of eating whale meat. High levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other pollutants are known to accumulate in pilot whales. In 2008, health officials recommended that the Faroese population stop eating whale meat.

WDC continues to engage with local Faroese grassroots groups to bring about positive change in the islands to end this cruel practice.

CORRECTION

The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that we printed an incorrect caption on an image on page 16 of your summer issue.

The orca in the picture is clearly not Tilikum. Our apologies that this mistake got through our usually rigorous checking process.

INTERNATIONAL

WHALING WON’T STOP TRADE DEAL

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n October 2016, WDC and petition site Care2 represented almost 270,000 people when we submitted a petition to the European Parliament (pictured).

If you added your voice to our campaign – thank you. The petition called on the EU to raise the issue of whaling in its trade negotiations with Japan and to say ‘no’ to a Free Trade Agreement while Japan kills whales.

In June last year, MEPs echoed our campaign and voted overwhelmingly in support of stronger EU measures against Japanese whaling.

Incredibly, the EU Commission has stated that Japan’s whale hunting will not be a factor in the trade deal negotiations. Whilst this is not welcome news, we intend to continue our fight to end whaling and hold the EU to its commitment to protect whales. If it doesn’t, the European public will have no choice but to

WDC

505 GAMES

ighty-four long-finned pilot whales were killed in one hunt alone when the infamous Faroe Islands drive hunt season resumed this year. The first big slaughter took place in the killing bay of Bøur on the island of Vagar. This year’s hunt has been a particularly horrible one as, at the time of writing, more than 900 pilot whales and white-sided dolphins have been killed.

The meat is distributed amongst the local

assume that the EU’s conservation policies are secondary when compared to economics.

Given this situation, we have written to the EU Commission to urge it to reconsider its position, and to raise the subject of whaling in the next round of trade talks with Japan.

Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 5

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT Keeping in touch with you is important.

We hope you appreciate hearing from us about the successes you are helping to achieve to keep whales and dolphins safe and free, as well as the continuing challenges they face.

New data protection legislation will come into effect in May 2018, and may have a significant impact on our ability to contact you. The exact details are still to be finalised, but it’s likely that we will have to ask you to choose how you would like us to keep in touch.

This is to ensure that we are communicating in the ways you prefer.

If you don’t let us know, we may not be able to contact you in the future and this may limit our ability to work to protect whales and dolphins.

We take our legal responsibilities, and our responsibility to our supporters, very seriously and will ensure that we comply fully with all legislation.

You don’t need to do anything at the moment, but please keep a lookout for updates as we begin to implement the new legislation.

If you have any questions, please contact info@whales.org 6 WHALE&DOLPHIN Autumn 2017

JAPAN

WHALING SHIPS RETURN TO POLITICAL STORM

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fter more than four months at sea, Japan’s whaling ships have returned from their controversial annual hunt having killed 333 minke whales (155 males and 178 females) in Antarctic waters for what they claim are scientific purposes.

Japan uses this so-called ‘research’ reason to exploit a loophole in the international ban on commercial whaling.

The hunts have, however, attracted universal international condemnation from scientists, governments and the public.

In 2014, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Japan’s Antarctic whaling programme in the Southern Ocean was illegal and had to stop, as it had failed to yield any meaningful scientific results.

As recently as this January, the European Union issued a formal statement of concern regarding Japan’s whaling practices. The strongly worded letter highlighted the lack of scientific justification for the Antarctic hunts, and also criticised Japan’s decision to start new

‘research’ hunts in the North Pacific in 2017, before the International Whaling Commission (the organisation that regulates whaling) will have had time to adequately review and assess the plans and their scientific value.

Japan’s whalers also killed 333 minke whales in the 2015/16 Antarctic hunting season, and more than 90% of the adult females were pregnant. The number of pregnant females killed this time around has not been made public at this point. The scientific value of this slaughter has been called into question by the IWC’s scientific committee and heavily criticised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on the status of the natural world.

Much of the whale meat from these ‘scientific’ hunts actually ends up on general sale in Japan and they seem intent on continuing the practice, claiming it’s part of the national identity. In fact, large-scale, industrial whaling in Japan only started after World War II when animal protein was in short supply.

BREACHING NEWS

WDC / CHA RLIE PHIL IPS

UK

HELP US NAME TWO LITTLE DOLPHINS

Japanese whalers killed 333 minke whales in their annual hunt

Moonlight and Spirit, two of the adoption dolphins, both became mothers again during the summer of 2014. Now their youngsters need names and we are offering you the chance to name them.

Moonlight’s son is a healthy young dolphin who is already catching small fish. He shares his big brother Lunar’s habit of being very active and breaching right out of the water. He and Lunar have great fun together and are fantastic to watch as they are so fast.

As a female, Spirit’s daughter has a

pretty important role to play within a highly complicated social society.

She seems to love travelling around the Inner Moray Firth exploring and hunting with her mum and older sisters Sparkle and Shimmer.

Please email one name suggestion for each dolphin to info@whales.org or post them to us by 26 September, 2017. Remember to include your name and address so we can contact you if we choose the name you suggested.

We’ll announce their names in the next issue of Whale & Dolphin.

AND ALSO… GRN

M VOT IER

The Japanese government has passed a bill regarding the resumption of commercial whale hunting despite opposition both internationally and from environmental groups within Japan.

The proposed new bill will enshrine funding for ‘research whaling’ in the Japanese national budget, despite the fact that demand for whale meat in Japan has fallen and the government already has to subsidise the industry.

The new bill was passed with virtually no debate within the Diet (parliament) and will result in multi-year funding for ‘research whaling’, the construction of a new whaling mothership and tougher immigration controls on foreign activists.

A statement issued by a coalition of 12 anti-whaling groups in Japan expresses concern that taxpayers’ money will be “spent on these wasteful programmes every year, whilst damaging our relationships with otherwise friendly nations, and disgracing ourselves internationally”.

UK

SPORTSWEAR CAN HELP CREATE CLEANER SEAS

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o support WDC’s efforts to stop dolphins, porpoises and whales being caught in fishing gear, and to highlight growing concerns about the amount of plastic pollution in our oceans, WDC has embarked on a new partnership with GRN sportswear. GRN make a range of products from recycled fishing nets and plastic bottles, helping to reduce ocean pollution.

In collaboration with WDC, GRN is launching a new WDC range of sports clothing, the ‘Net Positive’ range, which includes the Racerback swimsuit (pictured above left) and a WDC Cycling Jersey (pictured above right).

GRN’s products use New Life Yarn, which is produced entirely from recycled plastic bottles and Econyl, a high-performance nylon which uses recycled fishing nets. GRN use one of the planet’s most sustainable natural fabrics, bamboo for their T-shirts, and organic cotton for their hoodies.

So whether you are a keen runner, swimmer or cyclist or are looking to take part in one of WDC’s challenge events, you can choose kit that has a positive impact on the ocean. The new range is available on the GRN website, shop.grnsportswear.com/collections/WDC, with 20% from every sale supporting WDC’s projects around the world.

Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 7

BREACHING NEWS Helen, the Pacific white-sided dolphin held

by Vancouver Aquarium

CANADA

VANCOUVER ENDS WHALE AND DOLPHIN CAPTIVITY AT AQUARIUM

We are delighted with the news that the Vancouver Park Board voted unanimously to end whale and dolphin captivity at the Vancouver Aquarium. The aquarium is situated in the city’s Stanley Park, which is run by the Park Board.

The aquarium had already said it no longer intended to keep whales or dolphins after 2029, but had announced plans in February to bring back a number of beluga whales currently on loan at other marine parks. This followed the unexplained deaths of the aquarium’s two remaining beluga whales last year. Two other species are held at the park – a false killer whale and a Pacific white-sided dolphin. It is likely they will remain at the facility but will no longer perform in shows.

INTERNATIONAL

WHALES WHISPER TO AVOID ATTACKS

thought to be used to avoid any potential predators like orcas from listening in, locating and then killing their young.

A number of the mothers and young were observed by a research team in Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, a breeding ground for Antarctic humpback whales.

You can adopt a humpback at whales.org/adoptahumpback

Most whales are known for their loud underwater calls that can reach across many miles of ocean, but scientists have revealed that newborn humpback whales and their mothers frequently whisper to each other as part of a defence mechanism against attack.

The study, by researchers from Denmark and Australia, revealed unique, intimate forms of communication between mothers and calves

USA

SEISMIC BLASTING WILL THREATEN WHALES AND DOLPHINS

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WDC /R. ASMUTIS SILVIA

ust six months after the US Bureau of Ocean Energy and Management, under the Obama administration, denied six pending permit applications for seismic testing along the US east coast, President Trump’s administration has issued five draft permits for seismic testing in these same waters. As seismic surveys are used to search for deposits of fossil fuels, these permits put whales and dolphins at risk from future oil spills.

The loud pulsing sounds created by seismic surveys are emitted every 10 seconds, 24 hours

a day, and are known to harass, harm and even kill whales and dolphins. Of particular concern is the risk to critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, a species already facing significant impacts from entanglements in fishing gear and ship strikes. Research shows that man-made noise increases stress hormones in right whales, which can impact their ability to reproduce and lowers their immune systems.

Fewer than 500 North Atlantic right whales remain. They live along the east coast of the US and Canada, with the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina serving as their only known calving habitat.

BREACHING NEWS

PETER ROWLANDS / GREENPEACE

EUROPE

THOUSANDS OF DOLPHINS DIE IN NETS IN EU WATERS

NEWBORN HUMPBACK WHALES AND THEIR MOTHERS FREQUENTLY WHISPER TO EACH OTHER AS PART OF A DEFENCE MECHANISM AGAINST ATTACK

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ew data from French scientists reveals that unprecedented numbers of common dolphins have died and washed up on beaches this year as a result of accidental entanglement in fishing gear, or ‘bycatch’, in European Atlantic waters.

The report identifies that about 700-800 common dolphins stranded on the French Atlantic coast during the three months from January to March 2017, at the same time as hundreds washed ashore on the Cornish and Irish coasts.

Dolphins who die in fishing gear either fall out of the gear as it is being hauled aboard the fishing vessel, or else their bodies are thrown overboard. Some of those dead dolphins then wash ashore, with injuries from the fishing gear on their bodies.

Post-mortem analysis demonstrates that bycatch accounted for about 80% of the deaths of those stranded in France.

The data also shows that the number of dolphins dying in fishing gear is much higher than the figures produced by the official EU bycatch observer programme. This analysis adds to previous evidence that the existing EU bycatch monitoring and mitigation programme is just not good enough.

Bycatch of common dolphins has been consistently high in this region from the late 1990s onwards, with between 3,650-4,700 dolphins being killed each year in recurrent hotspots in the Bay of Biscay and Western Channel. Based on the number stranded so far this year, the French research suggests that thousands have died in fishing gear again, just like every other year in the preceding two decades.

Thank you to everyone who signed our petition. We are presenting it to the UK Fisheries Minister on 6 September and will feed back in your next issue.

INTERNATIONAL

A PLASTIC BOTTLE IS #NOTWHALEFOOD WDC has teamed up with leading water filter manufacturer, BRITA to develop a new website on the important issue of marine plastic pollution – www.notwhalefood.com. Coming soon, the site will contain loads of information to help you find out some of the smart and simple ways people are choosing to swap for good – making small changes to their lives to help tackle the amount of plastic in our oceans. Plastic poses a real threat to the safety and health of whales and dolphins.

The website launches this autumn and will highlight some of the best plastic-busting products from WDC partners such as BRITA and Ethical Superstore. It will also offer tips and stories from

our supporters on great buys you have found and changes you have made to help you cut down your use of items that are the most dangerous to whales and dolphins, such as single-use plastic bottles, plastic bags and products that contain microbeads.

Why not share your own experiences, tips and recommendations on social media using the hashtags #notwhalefood and #swapforgood, so that we can share them with other people around the world who are passionate about keeping whales and dolphins safe and free from the perils of plastic pollution.

WDC staff with our BRITA water bottles

Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 9

ICELAND

A SITE TO BEHOLD Ideal location is short-listed for the world’s first beluga sea sanctuary

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Our preferred sanctuary site is located in Iceland’s Westman Islands

Finally we turned to Iceland and that’s where we have found what we are now happy to call our preferred beluga sanctuary site. It just happens to be in a bay in the Westman Islands, south of the mainland, which was once famous for offering a home to another captive whale in need of sanctuary.

HISTORIC HOME

In September 1998, Keiko, the orca ‘star’ of the Free Willy films, was flown to a rehabilitation site (a giant sea pen) in Klettsvik Bay on the island of Heimaey in the Westman Islands, or Vestmannaeyjar. He was captured in Icelandic waters in 1979 and spent most of his captive life in an amusement park in Mexico. Each month,

ALL IMAGES: STEPHEN MCCULLOCH

n your summer issue we talked about our search for the perfect sea sanctuary. We showed you what the ideal sanctuary would need in order to provide for the whales and dolphins who will live there and for the humans who are going to look after them.

It has taken us a number of years to complete our search for a sanctuary site for the belugas taken into the care of Merlin Entertainments when they bought an aquarium in Shanghai, China. We had to find suitable cold water conditions in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions and our search took us to sites in Russia, near where two of the belugas were captured, and to Norway, where we hoped to find the necessary local and national support for our project.

WDC’s Rob Lott at the sanctuary site

WDC / ROB LOTT

SANCTUARY NEWS

FINALLY WE TURNED TO ICELAND AND THAT’S WHERE WE HAVE FOUND WHAT WE ARE NOW HAPPY TO CALL OUR PREFERRED BELUGA SANCTUARY SITE

WDC / ROB LOTT

following his return to Iceland, Keiko became more independent, recovering his health, making contact with local wild orcas and exploring the rich ocean environment of his birth. In 2002, Keiko swam nearly 1,000 miles between Iceland and Norway in complete freedom. In the days before his death in Taknes Bay, Norway, in 2003, a year after he left Iceland, he was free to come and go as he pleased, something he would never have experienced had he remained in captivity. When he died Keiko was around 26-years-old. In the wild, male orcas live to an average of 30 years but in captivity only, on average, a third as long.

Although there are no current plans to release the belugas, our hope now is that Klettsvik Bay

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We are now having conversations with the government ministries from whom we need to obtain the permits to operate the sanctuary, import the belugas and care for them in the bay. Once we have the necessary go-ahead from the Icelandic authorities, this will help us with our approaches to the Chinese government who need to give permission for the belugas to leave China. Our hope is that if this all goes well, it will set us up for a possible sanctuary opening date in 2019.

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METICULOUS PLANNING

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will maintain its reputation as a place of sanctuary and rehabilitation for captive whales, and provide a home for captive belugas.

Conditions in terms of depth, pH, temperature and salinity are all within natural beluga range.

The bay also offers a good deal of space in its more sheltered areas to accommodate a protected sea pen that can safely house a small number of belugas, with the option of expanding facilities to accommodate CH L LO CU more belugas in the future.

MC To create the sanctuary, part of the bay will be closed off using piles and netting, providing a secure and relatively quiet space for the belugas with limited disturbance. Wave attenuators, which are like floating breakwaters, will be part of the infrastructure, helping to reduce wave action in a bay that can experience significant winter storms. Staff facilities will be provided on an adjacent floating boat or barge, while research and visitor facilities, as well as a fully equipped veterinary laboratory, will be located a short distance across the bay in an existing building that will be redeveloped for purpose. There are good local fish supplies, access to local infrastructure, roads, airports and a ferry port, and overwhelming local support for the project.

IN MEMORY OF JUN JUN

It is with heavy hearts we acknowledge the fact that only two of the belugas who have been part of our sanctuary story for so long will now be moved to our sanctuary. Tragically, Jun Jun (pictured left) died in June. She was 17-years-old and experts had been working hard to address a long-term, underlying health condition. She was the third beluga we hoped to move. We dearly wanted her to feel the ocean on her skin again and for her to enjoy some of the choices that wild belugas have the freedom to make. We regret her passing deeply. Our work to progress this project for the two other belugas she was held with, Little White and Little Grey, continues in earnest and in memory of Jun Jun. Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 11

CLOSER TO CLOSURE Our campaign to convince travel operators to end support for whale and dolphin captivity has enjoyed great success so far. With your help we can ensure a cruel and obsolete industry finally collapses

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ur advice has always been the same: please, don’t buy a ticket to any marine park that holds whales and dolphins in captivity. The scale of captivity is huge, with around 3,000 whales and dolphins held in aquaria, zoos and theme parks globally. But these cruel fortresses are starting to erode, and recent campaign successes show just how quickly the tide is turning in some parts of the world.

Public opinion has shifted significantly in recent years, thanks to campaigns like ours and the free availability of information. The documentary film Blackfish has played a huge 12 WHALE&DOLPHIN Autumn 2017

Finland closed its doors for the final time due to plummeting public attendance. While it’s undoubtedly fantastic news that Finland is now a dolphinaria-free country, the fate of the dolphins remains a significant i concern as they were relocated to Attika Park in Greece, where one role in opening people’s eyes to the has already died. reality of life in confinement for Late in 2016, the City Council of large, socially complex and wideBarcelona decided not to build a new ranging mammals like orcas. The dolphinarium at Barcelona Zoo. The impact of Blackfish is so significant City Hall had ambition to declare it even has a name: The Blackfish ROB LOTT Barcelona a dolphinaria-free city as effect. People have seen behind the campaigns to they announced that they wanted to curtain and there’s no going back. end whale and relocate the six dolphins to dolphin captivity a coastal sanctuary. No such CHANGING FOR THE BETTER sanctuary currently exists but The effect of this is snowballing. discussions are underway to ensure Last year, the State of California these good intentions become a reality. banned the breeding and export of orcas.

In May this year the snowball gathered pace, In summer 2016, Särkänniemi Dolphinarium in

CAMPAIGNS

THE IMPACT OF BLACKFISH IS SO SIGNIFICANT IT EVEN HAS A NAME: THE BLACKFISH EFFECT. PEOPLE HAVE SEEN BEHIND THE CURTAIN AND THERE’S NO GOING BACK

W DC

with the French government banning the heels of the French announcement came the breeding of dolphins and orcas in captivity. Not very welcome decision from Vancouver’s Park only that but they banned the keeping of all Board that Vancouver Aquarium will not be whales, dolphin and porpoises in tanks except allowed to bring in any new whales or those already held. These new regulations will dolphins. The Park Board has include a ban on direct contact jurisdiction over the aquarium between captive whales and as it is situated in the city’s famous dolphins and the Stanley Park. public, including ‘swimThis decision was a huge blow with’ programmes. to the aquarium’s plans to There is also a expand its pools later this requirement for year. They were planning facilities to make pools a new beluga exhibit as the significantly larger last two belugas they held, within the next Aurora and her daughter few years.

Qila, died just days apart There was more in 2016. Vancouver WDC supporter Kathleen good news to Aquarium currently holds Haase and WDC captivity follow from a false killer whale and a Pacific lead Cathy Williamson at Canada. Hot on the white-sided dolphin who share a the BA petition handover

Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 13

APPEAL

YOU CAN HELP US END WHALE AND DOLPHIN CAPTIVITY We need your help to continue to persuade tour operators to break their links with the captivity industry. Your donation will help us DONATE TODAY meet with the travel industry and decision makers to expose the cruelty of holding whales and dolphins in concrete tanks.

At: whales.org On: 01249 449500 • £10 will help us attend ABTA’s welfare working group to keep up the pressure.

Or: use the form that came with • £30 will help us provide expert guidance to our sanctuary project. your magazine • £50 will help us expose conditions in Caribbean dolphin facilities – a tourist hotspot.

• £100 will help us run public awareness campaigns in China where orca circus shows are increasing.

We will feedback on our progress, but we can only continue our work with the help of supporters like you. Every pound will help.

Thank you.

ALAMY

CAMPAIGNS

Above and below: Vancouver Aquarium is no longer allowed to bring in new whales and dolphins

ALAMY

Above and below: Barcelona City Council has voted not to build a new dolphinarium at Barcelona Zoo

tank. The ruling says that these two individuals can stay where they are but must no longer appear in performances. Vancouver Aquarium has said it will fight the decision.

DOING THE RIGHT THING

As people generally become more aware of the impoverished existence whales and dolphins suffer in captivity, they start to make informed decisions about what they are comfortable supporting during their leisure time. There are, however, still plenty of companies out there ready to persuade you to part with your hardearned cash with a seductive array of incentives and discounts. The UK travel industry was a strategic campaign target for us, as hundreds of tour operators and travel agents, through business partnerships with parks such as SeaWorld, offer their passengers discounted tickets as part of their holiday packages.

Our campaigning seems to be paying off.

Those of us at WDC who have worked on the captivity issue on a daily basis over many years have noticed a significant change in travel industry attitudes towards this emotive subject.

Household names such as Virgin Holidays, Thomas Cook and TripAdvisor are all taking steps in the right direction by re-evaluating their relationships with facilities that hold

EARLIER THIS YEAR, TRAVEL INDUSTRY GIANT THOMAS COOK ANNOUNCED THAT IT IS CARRYING OUT AN AUDIT OF ALL THE CAPTIVE FACILITIES ON ITS BOOKS whales and dolphins captive.

Improving welfare conditions or uncoupling from a business partnership that has been in place, sometimes for decades, can be a complex process and yes, there are frustrations that things aren’t moving fast enough, but we are cautiously optimistic with progress to date.

Following our campaign targeting Sir Richard Branson, Virgin pledged that it would no longer work with facilities capturing whales and dolphins from the wild. Virgin Holidays has now gone even further in the right direction, announcing that it won’t be signing up any new attractions that feature captive whales or dolphins for theatrical shows, swimwith programmes or other entertainment purposes. Virgin has also promised support for the creation of coastal sanctuaries for ex-captive whales and dolphins, similar to the one WDC is working on for belugas.

Earlier this year, travel industry giant

Thomas Cook announced that it is carrying out an audit of all the captive facilities on its books. It’s going to take time to complete, but early signs are good and following an audit of the first 25 of its partner facilities, two-thirds have been dropped as they failed to meet the minimum standards for welfare set out by ABTA, the UK travel industry trade body.

Eleven of these facilities were dolphinaria while the others involved elephants. Thomas Cook has vowed to audit all 90 captive attractions over the next few years.

So, while Virgin Holidays won’t take on any new facilities, Thomas Cook is the first big name to drop existing attractions. This decision is very welcome and is likely to be costly for the company as it makes commission on tickets sold through its hotel chains.

Further good news came from the world’s largest travel website, TripAdvisor, when it announced that it will no longer sell tickets to Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 15

CAMPAIGNS

Thomas Cook is the first big name to drop attractions on animal welfare grounds

LISTENING TO REASON

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect in all this good news coming from forward-thinking, enlightened tour operators is the attitude of British Airways. We’ve been calling on them to stop selling tickets to SeaWorld but they have refused to engage with us or take seriously the concerns raised by their customers. If you’ve been following our campaign, you’ll be aware of the struggle we’ve had with BA over the years.

Back in 2014, in partnership with WDC supporter Kathleen Haase and change.org, we met with British Airways to hand over our petition, which at the time, represented 243,943 people. We took this opportunity to present them with the latest peer-reviewed science which emphatically illustrates just how poorly highly sentient, highly mobile whales and dolphins cope with life in a sterile tank. Sadly, they chose to ignore the science and instead believe SeaWorld’s line that everything is just fine with tank life!

16 WHALE&DOLPHIN Autumn 2017

ABTA’S CLEAR WELFARE GUIDELINES SHOULD NOW BE THE FIRST PORT OF CALL FOR ALL TOUR OPERATORS LOOKING TO EVOLVE THEIR ETHICAL AND RESPONSIBLE CORPORATE POLICIES your concerns, all 304,996 of them, at the Since then, we’ve tried repeatedly to engage security gate on the perimeter fence. with BA’s senior management. In 2015 we The world is clearly moving on. The UK’s took our message to Madrid and the annual national airline is in danger of becoming a shareholder meeting of BA’s parent company, dinosaur as it proves to the world, on this issue the International Airlines Group (IAG), where at least, that when it comes to listening to and we had the opportunity to present our case to valuing its customers, it just doesn’t care. its CEO, Willie Walsh, and the IAG Board in ABTA’s clear welfare guidelines front of hundreds of BA shareholders. should now be the first port of call for Again, our arguments were ignored. More all tour operators looking to evolve and more people signed our petition and their ethical and responsible earlier this year we took it to BA corporate policies. headquarters, just outside London. We Many companies have signed wrote and emailed up to these guidelines, but several times well implementation continues to in advance to let be an issue. We applaud the them know that we recent announcements of were coming, but Thomas Cook, BA management TripAdvisor and Virgin didn’t even have in leading the way – the courtesy to now is the time for meet with us. We others to follow. n were forced to leave WDC’s Julia WDC

attractions where tourists come into physical contact with captive, wild or endangered animals. WDC has been in discussions with the senior team at TripAdvisor as it looks to evolve its welfare policy. This will have important consequences for some of the 690,000 attractions it currently lists.

WDC

Rob Lott presenting ABTA with the BA campaign issue of Whale & Dolphin

WDC

Rob Lott at the International Airlines Group shareholders meeting

Thoms at BA’s security gate

BEHIND THE SCENES David A humpback and Avrilspotted Haines withoff WDC thepolicy Scottish manager coast Nicola Hodgins

SEGA’s James Schall cares about whales and dolphins... and hedgehogs

SUPPORTER SHOWCASE

of movies, Orca and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. These films sparked an interest in whales and dolphins, which then developed into a fascination.

As a 17-year-old, I remember blagging my way into the old Windsor Safari Park orca enclosure. I was immediately struck by the intelligence of the orca and, in the contact I had with her, I was sparked into life to protect orcas and promote a change in the way we as a species interact with other life. I have supported WDC since 1990 and been a quiet supporter ever since.

I’ve been lucky enough to WDC is fortunate to be supported by people all see wild orcas in the Pacific over the world. A few of you told Whale & Dolphin North West and gray and humpback whales in what inspires you to help California. These encounters have been highly emotional DC is here until every whale JAMES SCHALL after seeing orcas and dolphin is safe and free.

James is vice president of stuck in captivity.

But we are only here because Digital Business at SEGA It is an incredibly of you, our fantastic supporters.

Europe and has recently A younger James Schall humbling thing to have Your passion, energy and been appointed as a WDC met a captive orca who been made an ambassador commitment never cease to amaze us. ambassador. Since 2014, James inspired him to act

by WDC. My 17-year-old self You keep us going financially and you keep has worked closely with WDC would be doing cartwheels of us going emotionally, as you motivate and to develop links with the video joy to know the work that’s been done since inspire us every day. We think you are brilliant! games industry and has helped us raise over I found myself on the side of a grim pool Supporting a cause you feel passionately $250k to help protect whales and dolphins. looking into the eyes of a deeply intelligent about can be fun and rewarding, and people and sad orca. prefer to help in so many different ways.

Growing up in landlocked Oxfordshire, We talked to a few of our supporters about whales and dolphins were a bit of an odd why they give to WDC and what their support obsession for a young teenager to have.

To use your professional experience to means to them.

I think it came from watching a couple support WDC contact corporates@whales.org

W

Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 17

BEHIND THE SCENES

Peter Muffett in and out of his orca costume

PETER MUFFETT

Peter is a director at DTV, who produce films and TV ads for good causes, including WDC. Peter lends his support to WDC both personally and professionally.

The answer to the question, why do I support WDC is a simple answer, well two answers – animals and people.

Firstly, the people at WDC have inspired me for years. They do the work I only wished I could do. They do it tirelessly, expertly and passionately.

Secondly, I believe that all animals are born to be wild. And without exception, the people at WDC share my beliefs.

This is why I support WDC. And then the infamous documentary entered my life – Blackfish. I hosted a screening of it, which the WDC team generously attended to answer questions after the film.

The film and the experts at WDC inspired me to do something. I had an orca costume created and carried it, all 2.5 metres of it, in the first Virgin London Marathon. I was supporting WDC’s work to encourage Virgin Holidays to stop taking families to gawp at poor whales and dolphins in the name of entertainment.

The support of WDC for the marathon was amazing – from all the staff, to supporters who generously donated to encourage my bid to be the fastest orca in a marathon.

We did it... you did it.

I support WDC in every way I can. It’s why I’ve adopted dolphins and it’s why I gift adoptions to family, friends and colleagues.

I will support WDC until their work is done – until every dolphin and whale is safe and free.

To take part in an event for WDC visit whales.org/events

18 WHALE&DOLPHIN Autumn 2017

“WDC NEED OUR SUPPORT IF THEY ARE TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOAL OF LIVING IN A WORLD WHERE EVERY WHALE AND DOLPHIN IS SAFE AND FREE. I HOPE WE CAN MAKE THIS DREAM A REALITY” CAROLYN NEWTON

Carolyn runs The Whale Company selling beautiful organic cotton bags and flip flops made from recycled tyres. Carolyn is passionate about reducing plastic pollution in the ocean and donates 10p to WDC for every bag or pair of flip flops she sells.

Ten years ago I read an article about a whale who had washed up on the shore with a stomach filled with plastic; he or she had died of starvation. As a lover of the ocean and all marine wildlife, I was horrified. I started researching the topic of plastic pollution at a time when very little was known. What I discovered shocked me and I decided that we must all stop using plastic bags immediately. I designed my own bags and set up Whale Bags Ltd – now The Whale Company – always with the intention of giving money back to save whales and dolphins. WDC became one of my first (and best) customers.

As a primary school teacher turned designer/entrepreneur/ plastic pollution fighter, I initially lacked the expertise to market the business and WDC were always very encouraging.

Now, as the business

has grown, it is my turn to return that support and I am delighted to be able to make a small contribution.

I have seen WDC fight tirelessly for an end to whaling, freedom from captivity, rescue and conservation projects. WDC need our support if they are to achieve their goal of living in a world where every whale and dolphin is safe and free.

I hope we can make this dream a reality.

To find out more about on getting involved with your company visit whales.org/corporatepartnerships

MICHAEL NEWMAN

Michael has supported WDC financially as a member for almost 30 years and has decided that he would like to leave a gift to WDC in his Will.

I have always loved animals and developed an affinity for dolphins as a small boy while watching Flipper on TV in the mid-60s and a dolphin ‘performance’ at a marine circus in Majorca. I could see how intelligent

DO YOU ADOPT AN ORCA OR A WHALE OR DOLPHIN?

BEHIND THE SCENES

If you’ve got a story about what your adoption means to you, we’d love to feature it in Whale & Dolphin. Let us know at info@whales.org

Screenshots from Stacey’s Gamers for Orcas fundraising stream

Carolyn Newton has helped turn the tide against plastic pollution

“I FEEL VERY STRONGLY THAT THE FIGHT MUST GO ON, HOWEVER LONG IT TAKES” these creatures were and how friendly they appeared. At that age, in those times, I thought that the dolphins were enjoying themselves; how wrong I was!

In my twenties I started watching wildlife programmes on TV and learned about endangered species. I became aware of the human threats to whales and dolphins and wanted to do something to help. In 1989, I saw an advert for WDC, or WDCS as it was then, in a wildlife magazine and accordingly joined.

Now, at the age of 59, I have been a member of WDC for 28 years and, over this period, I have seen slow but sure progress being made in our long journey to protect these intelligent, sentient creatures. I feel very strongly that the fight must go on, however long it takes.

To this end I have bequeathed a percentage of my inheritance to WDC in my Will to help in our mission to achieve a world where every whale and dolphin is safe and free.

To find out how to remember WDC in your Will, visit whales.org/giftsinwills

STACEY BETHELL (AKA WOOTIBOT)

Stacey has two major passions: orcas and video games. She was able to bring those two things together when she took part in our Gamers for Orcas 24-hour gaming marathon in June. She raised a brilliant £650 and brought the issues facing orcas to her almost 5,000 followers.

Orcas are beautiful creatures that have captivated me from a very young age. I signed up for the Gamers for Orcas Challenge because I want to support and be a part of the invaluable work WDC does to protect and conserve all species of whales and dolphins.

I have been following WDC’s work for many years, so being able to play a part in this event was very personal and important to me. Gamers for Orcas has given me an opportunity to play an active role in the preservation of my favourite animals, orcas. Hearing back from my friends and viewers has been extremely rewarding and I would like to thank each and every one of them for their amazing support throughout the marathon.

I know that the money raised during the event will be put towards valuable research which will help protect these beautiful whales.

A big thank you to WDC for letting me be involved in this event. I am looking forward to taking part in the next Gamers for Orcas Challenge in 2018!

“I HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING WDC’S WORK FOR MANY YEARS, SO BEING ABLE TO PLAY A PART IN THIS EVENT WAS VERY PERSONAL AND IMPORTANT TO ME”

To find out more about Gamers for Orcas visit whales.org/gamersfororcas Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 19

TURNING THE TIDE Change comes through education. A shining example of this can be seen in the Caribbean islands of St Vincent and the Grenadines. Here we are working with communities to grow their appreciation for whales and the potential of whale watching. We’ll explore this work and showcase the inspiring people involved over three features in your next few issues of Whale & Dolphin

O

The second largest island, Bequia, is just ver 30 species of whales and dolphins can be found in the waters around the seven square miles (18 square km) and is a holiday destination for Europeans beautiful islands of Saint and North Americans. Many Vincent and the i luxury yachts and cruise ships visit Grenadines. More than a Bequian waters. But whales and third of all known whale and dolphins were here long before dolphin species choose to live here tourists discovered these waters. or travel to the area to breed and One of the species that comes raise their young. to Bequia is the humpback whale.

Located between St Lucia, Humpbacks, perhaps including the Barbados and Grenada, this JULIA THOMS adoption humpbacks, travel from Caribbean nation gained is WDC campaigns the Atlantic to the warm waters independence from the UK in 1979. manager and editor of the Caribbean every winter.

The ‘mainland’ Saint Vincent is 133 of Whale & Dolphin They come here to breed and nurse square miles (345 square km) and their young, unaware that they the biggest of the 32 islands that may find themselves facing a harpoon. constitute the country.

20 WHALE&DOLPHIN Autumn 2017

Bequia is the site of a 150 year-old whaling operation targeting North Atlantic humpback whales. This hunt is sanctioned by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the international body that makes decisions about whaling.

TROUBLED TRADITION

In 1986 the IWC implemented a ban on commercial whaling, but two types of hunting were still permitted. One is ‘scientific whaling’, which the Japanese continue to take advantage of. The other is what’s known as ‘Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling’. This allows aboriginal peoples to kill whales to meet genuine cultural and nutritional needs.

Bequian hunts are classified by the IWC as Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling, along with hunts in Alaska (USA), Chukotka (Russian Federation) and Greenland (Denmark).

Whaling in Bequia is not conducted by aboriginal peoples and does not have a long cultural tradition. In fact, it started as late as 1875 under the influence of Yankee whalers wanting to make money, and has carried on that way for many decades.

WDC

EDUCATION

Above: WDC’s Monica Pepe inspiring the next generation of Vincentians about whales Below left: St Vincent and the Grenadines comprises a chain of 32 islands and cays Below right: Humpback whales travel to the Caribbean in winter to conceive and give birth

WDC IS PROUD TO WORK WITH INSPIRATIONAL PEOPLE IN ST VINCENT TO HELP THEIR COUNTRY MAKE THE TRANSITION FROM WHALING TO WHALE WATCHING whaling to whale watching and to foster a love and appreciation of whales.

CHANGING TIMES

WDC has been supporting the work of our partners at the Argentinian organisation Fundación Cethus.

In 2012 they were invited by the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines National Trust to help them establish responsible whale watching in the islands.

The first visit was in 2014 and we’ve been privileged since then to support ex-whalers, government agents and other community members. We’ve worked in schools in the area to teach and inspire the next generation about the remarkable beings who live in the

W DC

So although nowadays the hunts do have an important role in the community’s heritage, they do not meet the criteria for Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling.

Another issue of huge concern is the way the whales are killed. Hunters use oldfashioned, hand-held harpoons (there is no humane way to kill a whale, but some methods are more traumatic than others) and they have targeted mother and calf pairs – something which is banned by the IWC. As well as all this, they fail to provide the cultural or nutritional needs statements, photographs, samples and information about the hunts that is required by the IWC. Whaling in this area has drawn global criticism – you may remember the story of whale watching tourists left reeling after an orca was harpooned in front of their boat earlier this year. But recently the hunts have become more and more controversial, not only with tourists and the international community but also with some locals. There is an appetite for change and WDC is proud to work with inspirational people in St Vincent to help their country make the transition from

waters around their beautiful island home.

Carolina Cassani of Fundación Cethus said: “It’s a dream project to work on because of the wonderful people I have the honour of meeting and the knowledge that together we are going to develop new ecotourism operations that we know are very beneficial for the local communities, as well as for the whales and dolphins and their habitat.”

In your next issue we’ll tell you about what happened when we welcomed Vincentians to WDC’s US base in Plymouth, Massachusetts – another ex-whaling community turned to whale watching. n Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 21

DANGEROUS

W TERS

What can we learn from the death of Lulu the orca?

O

ne cold morning on the shore of the small Scottish island of Tiree, the fate of the UK’s only resident orca population was dealt a killer blow.

Lulu, a young female orca just 20-years-old, was found dead. Her death hadn’t been quick or in any way painless. Several days earlier, she had found herself entangled in fishing line used to haul lobster pots up from the seabed. With no way to escape she died a drawnout and excruciating death, as she was slowly dragged under the water by the gear wrapped around her body, until eventually she suffocated.

22 WHALE&DOLPHIN Autumn 2017

CLOSE FAMILY TIES

Lulu was a member of the West Coast Community of orcas, a small and declining population of orcas who move between the west coast of Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

They’re thought to be mammal eaters and are often seen in the vicinity of seal haul-out areas around pupping season. They’re also thought to be genetically different from other orcas in the region, with their closest relatives being orcas from Antarctica.

While they’ve been studied since the early 1990s, relatively little is still known about this

group of only eight to ten individuals, but what is known does not make for happy reading.

In all the years researchers have known about them, they’ve never had a single calf. No one knew why, but through her death Lulu was about to provide some answers.

Luckily, in the UK we have a top-notch team of scientists who investigate the deaths of whales, dolphins and porpoises along our coasts. They rush to the scene, carry out a post-mortem (otherwise known as a necropsy), take lots of samples and then try to work out what killed the individual – a bit like a real-life CSI.

ASK THE EXPERTS

JANET BAXTER

John Coe, a well known member of Lulu’s pod

ALAMY

John Coe with two female members of Lulu’s pod, surfacing in the Outer Hebrides

PCBs found in Lulu’s blubber

LULU’S BLUBBER WAS FOUND TO CONTAIN 950MG OF PCBS. THAT’S MORE THAN 100 TIMES THE UPPER LIMIT OF 9MG THAT IS KNOWN TO CAUSE DAMAGE TO MARINE SPECIES

Mgs of PCBs known to cause damage

Average mgs of PCBs found in orcas in the North Atlantic

other orcas, what the first (and therefore As well as working out the cause of death, subsequent) link ate was deadly. The culprit? they are able to make deductions about the PCBs, otherwise known as polychlorinated whale or dolphin over time, and paint a better biphenyls – man-made chemicals that were picture of that individual’s life – what they widely used as, among other things, insulating ate, whether or not they’d had children, and cooling fluids in electrical goods. PCBs whether or not they were healthy before they were found to be so toxic that their met their demise. For Lulu it was no different. manufacture was banned the world over They confirmed that she died as a result of around three decades ago, but not before they being entangled in the fishing line but, entered the natural environment in interestingly, they also confirmed huge quantities through both their that although she was 20, an age i use and their disposal. PCBs take a where many other female orcas very long time to break down and/ would likely have already had or degrade and, due to their low babies, Lulu had never even been evaporation rate, they are now pregnant. A very bizarre finding abundant in the ocean and in lakes and something that needed and rivers. further investigation.

Contact with PCBs brings a NICOLA HODGINS wealth of associated health is a policy manager A TOXIC LEGACY implications, from liver damage to at WDC Orcas are what are called ‘apex’ cancer, a lowered immune system predators, meaning they are at the to infertility, and everything in-between. top of the food chain, nothing eats them and in Unfortunately, to make matters worse, PCBs a way, they eat everything. Everything biomagnify – meaning that the concentration bio-accumulates up the food chain – meaning increases as you go up the food chain. This is that over time, Lulu would have indirectly not good news for apex predators. eaten what her own dinner ate, as well as its dinner and its dinner before it, including any toxins or the like. Technically, she ate what the PLAGUED BY POLLUTION first (and second and third) link in the chain Lulu’s blubber was found to contain 950mg ate, good and bad. Tragically for her, and for of PCBs. That’s more than 100 times the

upper limit of 9mg that is known to cause damage to marine species. Given that the average contamination level for orcas in the North Atlantic is a still horrifying 150mg, there was no doubt that Lulu had been harnessing a pollutant overload and in reality had been lucky to have lived as long as she had. The puzzling question of why she had never had a calf had now been answered – her body was riddled with toxins that had prevented her from living a normal orca life.

So what can we learn? Lulu’s devastating and untimely death demonstrates how vital it is to make sure that the UK has strong laws in place after Brexit to stop other whales and dolphins suffering, as she did, for the food on our plates. Accidental entanglement in fishing gear, or ’bycatch’, is the single biggest killer of whales, dolphins and porpoises globally.

Hundreds of thousands die as Lulu did every year despite there being ways to prevent these deaths. The tragedy of Lulu’s life, carrying an overload of toxins that affected her health and her ability to be a mother, teaches us that we need to be much more careful when it comes to pollution. Just because you can’t see it or smell it (PCBs are colourless and odourless) it doesn’t mean it can’t harm. PCBs are the silent killers in our midst. n Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 23

GALLERY

HUNTING IN THE SURF Bottlenose dolphins hunt and play in the tropical waters off French Polynesia

LIFE ON THE WAVES

A lifelong passion for whales and dolphins lies at the heart of photographer Christopher Swann’s work

24 WHALE&DOLPHIN Autumn 2017

ALL IMAGES: CHRISTOPHER SWANN

T

hese astonishing images were captured by Christopher ‘Swanny’ Swann. As a young Royal Navy diver, Swanny says he “fell utterly in love with sea” and it’s been his lifeblood ever since.

Later, he spent 28 years running wildlife holidays aboard his 75-foot sailing boat and remembers: “I stumbled onto whales and my life changed forever.”

Swanny’s connection with WDC goes right back to these early days of whale watching. Now, he has turned his hand to photography, explaining that he wants to “try to capture some of the miracles and beauty I have lived with for so long”.

We’d say he’s succeeded on that score! Swanny was a finalist in the prestigious BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2016.

A DESERT WHALE An enormous fin whale glides past barren desert in the Gulf of California

HUMPBACKS BLOW Three humpback whales expel deep breaths amidst a thunderous tropical storm

DEEP OCEAN Two humpback whales enjoying the deep, clear, blue ocean near Tonga

Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 25

ADOPTION UPDATES

DOLPHINS ORCAS HUMPBACKS

The latest news about the bottlenose dolphins, humpback whales and orcas you so generously adopt. Thanks to your support we can help give them all a safer future

For your chance to choose names for Spirit's and Moonlight's youngsters, turn to page 7

Kesslet Kesslet has been busying herself this summer with regular hunting in the Kessock Channel and the harbour at Inverness.

She swaps one location for another whenever the salmon change which river they are running to. Now and again she is joined by her son, Charlie, and I think I have discovered a trick that they do to maximise their hunting success. They shout to each other! One dolphin sits near the Inverness Harbour entrance watching for salmon running up the River Ness, and the other sits in the Kessock Channel watching for salmon migrating up the River Beauly. Whichever river has salmon travelling to it is flagged up and the other dolphin goes at top speed and joins the other to feast on the fish. Clever eh?

KESSLET HAS BEEN BUSYING HERSELF THIS SUMMER WITH REGULAR HUNTING IN THE KESSOCK CHANNEL

Rainbow Rainbow has been a fairly regular visitor to Chanonry Point along with her son Indigo. Sometimes they have had Rainbow’s older son Prism for company too. The food supply has been a bit patchy this season, so Rainbow and some of her friends have been travelling around to try to find enough to keep body and soul together. Rainbow is looking

great as usual and the light-coloured scrapes on her dorsal fin that she picked up a while ago have faded quite a lot, although you can still see them in bright sunlight. Indigo is great at catching smaller fish, but his snacks are getting bigger all the time and he grows even funnier to watch as he becomes better at catching them.

Moonlight

26 WHALE&DOLPHIN Autumn 2017

ALL IMAGES: WDC / CHARLIE PHILLIPS

Moonlight has been slightly elusive, but she will show up with her young son when you least expect it. She has been ranging far and wide and I know she’s nearly made it into the Kessock Channel, as the local tour boat guide showed me a photo of her fin taken just beyond the Kessock Bridge.

Moonlight can often be encountered up near Cromarty if there aren’t many salmon running at Chanonry. So I’m thinking that I might need to get out on a boat to catch up with this lovely dolphin and her son who, taught by his expert hunter of a mum, is now catching nice small fish for himself.

DOLPHIN DIARIES Sundance Sundance has been a fairly regular visitor to the deep water near Chanonry Point over the summer.

He has been arriving with a mixed group of mums and youngsters once the tide starts rising.

If there are salmon to catch then he hangs around for a while and starts to hunt. But if not, he tends to break off and wander along the coast for a mile or so then heads straight out towards the Cromarty Firth, where hopefully there will be plenty of big fish for him to catch. When you are the size that Sundance is it takes quite a few fish to fill you up! While out on boat trips from Cromarty I have seen Sundance in the distance with some of the other males. This is when he really asserts his dominance, putting some of the young pretenders in their place – awesome to watch.

Spirit Unlike last season when Spirit came travelling past Chanonry Point very early on in the year, in 2017 she has still to come near my camera on the beach. Thankfully, I have just had a couple of brief sightings of her from on board boats further out in the Firth, along near Burghead and out in the Cromarty Firth. She was travelling along with a group of mums and bigger calves. I spotted her coming to the surface between two other females, Sickle and Lilith. I’m so pleased to see her and her young daughter looking so well and happy. I have also seen Spirit's daughter Sparkle and her own youngster recently, plus a quick sighting of Shimmer too.

Mischief Mischief has been the most reliably spotted of the adoption dolphins this season. He’s made regular appearances at Chanonry Point and foraging visits of over three hours are not unusual as he patrols up and down the tidal current. After he’s fed, he’ll break off the hunting for a while to have a bit of a social session with other dolphins, and then it’s back to work. He might stay underwater for three or four minutes as he has a good scan around with his powerful echolocation system to look out for salmon running in from the open sea. I’m still astonished at just how fast this big dolphin can suddenly travel.

It’s like he’s been launched from a giant catapult as he overtakes and catches a salmon, spinning his body around and nabbing lunch.

Brought to you by WDC's adopt a dolphin field officer, Charlie Phillips Trying to spot dolphins around the Inner Moray Firth has been an unusually fragmented process for most of the summer and it’s been hard to predict their movements. In a ‘normal’ season the resident dolphins, including the adoption dolphins, have a pattern of movement along the Moray Firth coastline. As spring turns to summer, their routes coincide with the migratory salmon’s arrival at their home rivers.

This movement is not as easy to see as it was maybe 20 years ago as the coastal and sea environment is changing, possibly due to climate change. Where once we saw huge numbers of returning salmon, now their numbers are only a shadow of what they once were – 10% in some extreme cases. This means that the really big groups of 20 or more dolphins that we used to see coming in towards Chanonry Point and the Kessock Channel to feast on salmon are now more sporadic and scattered out much more along the coast.

There are the same overall number of dolphins, more than there used to be in fact – it’s just that they are having to spread out over a wider geographical area these days to get enough food.

In some areas it feels as though you might be seeing fewer dolphins than before, but in other locations, dolphins are popping up where they have rarely been recorded in the past, so this balances things up. It’s interesting to have new regular places to see these wonderful wild and free dolphins.

For your monthly email dolphin update send your supporter number to info@whales.org Read Charlie’s blog at whales.org/adoptadolphinblog @WHALES_org @whaleanddolphinorg Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 27

ADOPTION UPDATES

HUMPBACK HEADLINES Brought to you by executive director of WDC North America, Regina Asmutis-Silvia The Gulf of Maine humpback whales started to arrive back during the springtime to feed in these cool, plankton and fish-rich waters. During April, we were treated to the sight of humpback whales happily feasting together in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which, at 842 square miles (or 2,180 square kilometres), is an enormous humpback whale restaurant of sorts.

Then at the beginning of June, the humpbacks seemingly disappeared, leaving whale watchers wondering where they went and would they return?

The answer is… it depends. The whales don’t disappear completely, but they do move from place to place following the source of plentiful fish.

They must find the best feeding spots to ensure they eat enough to replenish their blubber layer in preparation for the months ahead. They need a good energy store to sustain them throughout their long migration and breeding season.

The Gulf of Maine includes many different underwater plateaus and canyons, which create upwelling sea currents that provide perfect habitats for small schooling fish (whale food!). The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary protects a huge underwater sand hill, which is an ideal habitat for schools of sand lance, the humpback whales’ favourite food. Because the area is relatively close to shore it’s also the preferred destination for whale watchers.

Sand lance availability varies from place to place throughout the region, depending on factors such as sea currents, plankton abundance and water temperature. It is likely that a dip in sand lance numbers on Stellwagen Bank prompted the whales to disperse and swim offshore in early June in search of more plentiful feeding spots.

For your monthly email humpback update send your supporter number to info@whales.org facebook.com/whales.org @WHALES_org @whaleanddolphinorg 28 WHALE&DOLPHIN Autumn 2017

Salt Salt returned to Stellwagen Bank during April this year. We didn't see her for a while after that until she made an epic return in July. Lucky whale watchers were treated to a rare display of her breaching and flipper slapping.

Two of her daughters, Mostaza (17) and Sanchal (6) have been spotted too.

Both of them returned with newborns at their sides last year, as did Salt.

Salt’s granddaughter, Etch-a-Sketch (19), a mother of two, has also been spotted. We hope you like this great picture we took of Toboggan (3), one of Salt’s younger grandchildren, open-mouth feeding. Toboggan is Mostaza’s third child.

WE HOPE YOU LIKE THIS GREAT PICTURE WE TOOK OF TOBOGGAN, ONE OF SALT’S YOUNGER GRANDCHILDREN

Midnight We’ve spotted Meteorite, Midnight’s 11-year-old son or daughter, feeding at Stellwagen Bank.

The rather bashful Midnight was finally spotted in July.

As Midnight’s last baby (her 10th) was born in 2014, we crossed our fingers that she would swim by with a new baby at her side this year – and we are thrilled to report that she did!

WE CROSSED OUR FINGERS THAT SHE WOULD SWIM BY WITH A NEW BABY AT HER SIDE THIS YEAR – AND WE ARE THRILLED TO REPORT THAT SHE DID!

Pepper Pepper is one of many humpbacks who appear to have several favourite feeding sites across the region, and so we tend to see her mainly in short bursts at one of these – Stellwagen Bank. Pepper is one of the whales we’ve known the longest and we’re familiar with some of her tried-andtested feeding behaviours. We’ve taken some great photographs of her, especially open-mouth feeding, like the picture above. We’ve also spotted two of her children, the now 10-year-old Striation and her 17-year-old daughter Habanero, and we’ll continue to bring you news of Pepper and her other sons and daughters.

PEPPER IS ONE OF MANY HUMPBACKS WHO APPEAR TO HAVE SEVERAL FAVOURITE FEEDING SITES

ALL IMAGES: WDC

Reflection We’ve spotted two of Reflection’s four children already this year – Buzzard (17) and Crisscross (8). Reflection is usually sighted early in the season, except in 2014 when she had her new baby, Hydrophone (3), with her.

Could this mean that she will arrive

late again this year with a newborn swimming at her side? We hope so!

We are looking out for Reflection and also Spiral, her 10-year-old.

Reflection is younger than the other three adoption whales and has yet to become a grandmother.

REFLECTION IS YOUNGER THAN THE OTHER THREE ADOPTION WHALES AND HAS YET TO BECOME A GRANDMOTHER Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 29

WDC / JULIA THOMS

ORCA ODYSSEYS

Holly Such good news! In the last update we hinted at the possibility that Holly had a new baby during the winter. We had been expecting this because in the previous summer we had seen a very pregnant-looking Holly pass by on the underwater camera at the Rubbing Beach, but we needed to be absolutely sure. Then on 5 June they passed our friends at CetaceaLab a few hundred kilometres north of here, in the company of the A4 pod. This time there were pictures that we are delighted to share with you.

All the rest of Holly’s family were there and looking well. Little Albion will now have to share Mum with the new little one and become somewhat more self-sufficient: all part of growing up in an orca family. We will eagerly wait for Holly to begin the long trek down the coast, so we too get a chance to see her, her family and excitingly, her new baby. Last year, she arrived with the rest of her A5 pod around mid-July so as we write this, not long now.

For more regular baby news sign up to our monthly email updates.

Brought to you by OrcaLab founders, Helena Symonds & Paul Spong

LITTLE ALBION WILL HAVE TO SHARE MUM WITH THE NEW LITTLE ONE AND BECOME SOMEWHAT MORE SELF-SUFFICIENT: ALL PART OF GROWING UP IN AN ORCA FAMILY CETACEALAB

After a long windy winter and unusually cool spring, summer is upon us at OrcaLab. The whales are back, right on time, and we’re excited about what lies ahead.

At the Lab, our first assistants (from Germany and Belgium) have arrived and are quickly learning how to operate our systems and live in the wild. Newcomers, and others who have been with us before, will soon follow and our Lab will be humming with activity again as we monitor hydrophones, make recordings, take photos and control cameras. Megan Hockin-Bennett will be returning to CP, our Cracroft Point observation station, filming and creating videos. As usual, we’ll be streaming everything to orcalab.org/community (click on the audio button) and explore.org (look for the orca icons).

This will also be a year of infrastructure upgrading.

A major ambition is becoming oil free by next winter.

We will be doubling the Lab’s solar capacity and adding energy from a windmill on a nearby cliff that faces south east, towards the winter storms. If our plans come together we may not have to run a generator at all. Besides making us happy, we will be demonstrating that it is possible to live in this world without contributing to planet warming. That will leave us with a warm feeling regardless of winter chills. We will be replacing the roof on our main house as well, hoping to make it free of leaks at last. If we succeed in both of these ambitions, it will be a dream come true!

We hope you’re as excited as we are about what lies ahead for the whales and for our research station. We are ever so grateful to WDC and to you all for helping to make what we do at OrcaLab possible.

Bend On 3 July, we were delighted when Bend’s family arrived in our area, and stayed a whole week! As we hoped, Clio had a new baby beside her. This spirited little orca, often leaping out of the water, seemed excited to be among family, touring the area for the first time. Their early arrival was a surprise, as we have become accustomed to a later start to the season.

As the only group around, they were often flanked by boats and we and WDC are always keen to remind people to enjoy

facebook.com/whales.org @WHALES_org @whaleanddolphinorg 30 WHALE&DOLPHIN Autumn 2017

HELENA SYMONDS & ORCALAB

For your monthly email orca update send your supporter number to info@whales.org

watching orcas responsibly as being too close can disturb normal family life. Bend’s growing family now numbers 12 and is beginning to change its profile.

Klaoitsis’s dorsal fin is showing signs of the spurt of growth known as 'sprouting' which will soon transform him into a tall, obvious male. We continued to enjoy Bend’s family day after day until on 9 July they headed north in lovely evening light. Naturally, we hope they will return soon.

ADOPTION UPDATES

J A R ED TOW E R S

Simoom

JARED TOWERS

The summer season is soon going to be underway. Already, two groups, the C10s and the Ds, have done a quick tour of the area.

This is almost a perfect repeat of last year when another closely related group came in briefly around this same time. This was followed up by Simoom making a brief appearance two weeks later. Simoom's family has already been sighted in northern British Columbia waters, so our fingers are crossed that she too will do the same again this year and the season will have a proper jump-start.

As of last year, Simoom’s family had 11 members. The youngest (A112) born in 2016 to Eclipse, Simoom’s second oldest daughter, will be named next year. Of course, as her cousin Kaikash decided to join the family after the death of his brother Plumper, the group has actually numbered 12. His tall adult male dorsal fin completes the family profile. Stay tuned – reports of how Simoom’s family is faring this year should be available by our next update, and if you can’t wait until then, sign up to our monthly email updates.

Fife We were lucky last December to have had Fife’s family in the area, just in time for the holiday season. It's always reassuring to catch sight of these whales during winter, a time when the days are short, the weather unpredictable and sightings few and far between. It is, however, historically known that Fife’s pod often returns during the winter, and since we began noting observations over 30 years ago at least part of Fife’s family has shown up each winter.

Fife and his family returned last summer midJuly. This is a pattern that has also been repeated each summer for several years. It is obvious that they have a strong loyalty to this area and we anticipate this coming season will prove the same.

We are looking forward once more to watching Fife’s beautifully tall and full dorsal fin slip through the ocean chasing salmon, rubbing his long body against the Rubbing Beach pebbles and playing with his family during the summer to come.

AS OF LAST YEAR, SIMOOM’S FAMILY HAD 11 MEMBERS. THE YOUNGEST (A112) BORN IN 2016 TO ECLIPSE, SIMOOM’S SECOND OLDEST DAUGHTER, WILL BE NAMED NEXT YEAR

Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 31

Mix and match game £5.70 WDC beanie £9

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Safe and Free children’s T-shirt £7.80

THOUGHTFUL GIFTS

If you are searching for birthday or Christmas presents or just a little treat for yourself, have a look at our shop.

You’ll find a lovely selection of gifts for the whole family.

Many of our products are Fair Trade, ethical and made from recycled materials.

Shop knowing that every penny that you spend helps whales and dolphins

See more gifts online at whales.org/shop Whale pendant £24

Whale earrings £18 Glass octopus ornament £18.99

Pack of six Christmas cards £4.50

Highland cow T-shirt £18.50

FACE TO FACE

WDC / CHARLIE PHILLIPS

TACKLING ENTANGLEMENT

WDC policy manager Sarah Dolman is taking the issue of bycatch to the top EU negotiating tables

WDC / NICK UNDERDOWN

O

f all the threats that face dolphins, porpoises and whales, accidental entanglement in fishing nets and gear, or ‘bycatch’, is the biggest.

Each year thousands suffer slow and painful deaths in UK and European waters.

Alarmingly, the problem appears to be reaching unprecedented levels for some species. Recent data from a team of French scientists showed that around 700-800 common dolphins stranded on the French Atlantic coast during the three months from January to March 2017; 80% of them displayed telltale signs of bycatch on their bodies. At the same time, hundreds more dolphins washed ashore on the Cornish and Irish coasts.

WDC is pressing the EU to do more to tackle the issue and our End Bycatch Programme lead, Sarah Dolman, is at the forefront of this work.

She says: “There is understanding of bycatch within European political circles and the UK Government but I think there has been a lack of focus, and it hasn’t been getting the attention it deserves. The measures that are in place aren’t fit for purpose and we could do much better.

“The European Parliament is currently debating whether to weaken or strengthen measures to protect dolphins, porpoises and whales from bycatch, so we are in the process of reviewing what proposals have been

THE MEASURES THAT ARE IN PLACE AREN’T FIT FOR PURPOSE AND WE COULD DO MUCH BETTER

made so we can make recommendations.

While the UK remains part of the EU we’re working hard to make sure that the bycatch measures that are being revised in Europe are made as robust as possible because regardless of Brexit, we want to make every effort to reduce and eliminate bycatch.”

The measures protecting whales, dolphins

and porpoises in UK seas come from a European regulation called the Common Fisheries Policy. Whatever protection measures are agreed, they’re very likely to be the basis of any new laws in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland once Britain has left the EU. In picking apart existing and future policies, Sarah’s role involves meeting with government officials, parliamentarians and representatives from the fishing industry to raise awareness of bycatch and influence change.

UNCHARTED WATERS

The danger that fishing gear can pose to whales and dolphins may be clear but assessing how widespread the problem really is, and reducing its impact, throws up lots of challenges, as Sarah explains.

“First of all we need to have a much better understanding of the extent of bycatch and better monitoring on fishing vessels. At the moment within European waters it’s only a small section of the fleet that is required to monitor, so that needs to be broadened.

“The way that we reduce bycatch also depends on the species that are being caught and the types of fisheries. There is not one answer. The solutions need to be well thought out and applied in the relevant region for the relevant fisheries.

Autumn 2017 WHALE&DOLPHIN 33

FACE TO FACE

IT’S WDC’S JOB TO ENSURE DECISION-MAKERS ARE ARMED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE AND BACKGROUND THAT THEY NEED

W DC / FIO

NA R

E AD

Left: A bycaught dolphin brought on deck Below: Sarah takes our campaign to the EU in Brussels

WDC

34 WHALE&DOLPHIN Autumn 2017

WDC / CHARLIE PHILLIPS

“Finally, what we need is a better understanding of how dolphin, porpoise and whale populations are faring. We need a commitment and strategy to monitor them, so we can understand how healthy they really are. The government obviously has a really big role to play in making that happen and there should be support for conservation organisations like WDC and for citizen scientists and communities to take part.”

On this last point, Sarah has plenty of firsthand experience observing whales and dolphins in the wild. She first joined WDC as a volunteer in 1996 while studying electrical engineering at Bath University and this technical background was to prove particularly useful in the early part of her career.

She says: “Part of the reason I was recruited to work at WDC to begin with was because they were looking for someone to work on the issue of underwater noise pollution. It wasn’t very well documented at the time but being a student of communications engineering meant I had an understanding of how sound travels, which was quite relevant for that topic area.”

Before taking the lead on bycatch, Sarah was WDC head of policy for Scotland, and aside from her current EU work she still has the chance to get out into the wilds of the Western Isles to carry out research.

“I recently came back from Lewis where we run a field project. I was deploying some acoustic equipment that we leave out over the summer to listen to the local populations of dolphins and porpoises that live in the Minch.

“I’m also hoping to get back to Lewis in September to photograph the Risso’s dolphins.

They’re a species typically found offshore but there are a few places in the world, such as Lewis, where they come close to the coast. The waters around Lewis have been proposed as a Marine Protected Area, so part of our role there is to try to get that area safeguarded for the benefit of those dolphins.”

Whether surveying the seas or talking at the negotiating table, teamwork is key and Sarah works alongside a number of like-minded organisations to help spread the message about bycatch. A recent collaboration with the Scottish Creel Fisherman’s Federation and others, for example, resulted in the production of a best practice guide, giving fishermen advice

Common dolphins in the waters of Lochcarron, Scotland

on setting their creels to minimise bycatch and what to do if they encounter an entangled whale. Creels are used to catch lobsters and crabs on the seabed and this method can endanger larger whales such as minkes and humpbacks who get caught in the fishing lines.

BEST PRACTICE Sarah says: “Getting that best practice guide out there shows fishermen that we want to work with them and that we want to support them in providing data. So that when a whale entanglement does happen they feel comfortable and confident that they can report it to the stranding scheme. If the whale is still alive hopefully he or she can be rescued, and if they find a whale who has died, then ideally the body can be recovered for postmortem, which can then provide valuable information.”

Obviously no fisherman wants to catch a whale or dolphin and it’s WDC’s job to ensure decision-makers are armed with the knowledge and background that they need to make informed choices about bycatch laws.

Public opinion is crucial in this respect and Sarah emphasises the part that WDC supporters can play in the political process to end the suffering throughout UK and EU waters.

“One of the most rewarding aspects of my role is the level of response that we get when we reach out to our supporters and ask for their help. We recently started a petition to improve the UK bycatch measures and already we’ve smashed our target of 50,000 signatures.

That provides you with the confidence to go and have discussions with governments about these issues.

“The role of our supporters can’t be underestimated. Governments tell us time and time again that hearing from them is really important as to how decisions are made and how they take shape. So although there may be lots of opportunities where we ask our supporters to engage in political processes, I think if you can spare the few minutes that it takes to sign a petition, or write a letter to your Member of Parliament, it’s always valuable.” n

N E W CO LLECT IO N

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REMEMBER DOLPHINS IN YOUR WILL

These amazing, intelligent beings face so many man-made threats.

Leaving a gift in your Will, however large or small, can help us create a world where every whale and dolphin is safe and free.

WDC / CHARLIE PHILLIPS

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