A WORLD WHERE EVERY WHALE AND DOLPHIN IS SAFE AND FREE As WDC enters its 30th anniversary year, we have been able to reflect on past successes for the charity and also look ahead to the challenges and uncertainties that face us in our fight to create a world where every whale and dolphin is safe and free. In 30 years we have seen many changes in that world, not least the growing public movement away from the idea that keeping whales and dolphins in captivity for our entertainment is acceptable. Our work to create wild sea sanctuaries for whales and dolphins is a reflection of that movement, and we are very excited by the developments in the past 12 months with our beluga sanctuary project. We are working with partner organisation Merlin Entertainments to create a large sea space for two belugas currently held in captivity to live out the rest of their lives in a more natural environment, without having to perform tricks for the public.
30 YEARS OF PROTECTING WHALES AND DOLPHINS
Over the coming 30 years we will continue to work in partnership with commercial companies that share our vision. In 2017 we cemented relationships with companies BRITA and SEGA, as well as seeking to increase the numbers of partnerships to help benefit whales and dolphins, all the while adapting to the changing fundraising landscape in the charity sector.
CONTENTS Stop whaling
2
Healthy seas
4
Prevent death in fishing gear
6
End captivity
8
Our mission
10
Partners and sponsors
12
It’s all thanks to you
14
Financial review
16
Thank you
17
Contacts
18
We live in a politically uncertain time and this uncertainty has presented challenges for us as a charity. In 2017 we continued working to influence states regarding issues such as whaling, deaths of whales and dolphins in fishing nets, the scourge of plastic pollution and the creation of healthy seas. The successes you can read about in the pages of this Review would not be possible without the support of our corporate partners, volunteers, donors and individual members of the public. Thank you. Together we will continue to be the advocate for whales and dolphins.
Chris Butler-Stroud (CEO, WDC)