Dolphin + Whale Project

The Problem

Whales and dolphins continue to be killed around the world and need our help. Japan, Iceland, and Norway kill more than 1,000 minke, fin, and other great whale species every year, all for meager sales of whale meat. Thousands of dolphins are still killed every year in Japan for meat, and in Indonesia and Peru for shark bait. Whales and dolphins continue to be captured in Russia, Cuba, and Japan for export to captivity facilities. Despite a ban on captures and export, dolphins around the Solomon Islands still face threats of capture, slaughter and export, as is illustrated in the adjacent video, "Pillaging the Solomons".

Our Action Campaign

We have a long history of working within the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to end commercial whaling. In 1982, we helped pass a moratorium on commercial whaling. We publish a daily newsletter, ECO, at IWC meetings, which is the voice for whales and the environmental community. We work with grassroots groups to educate local fishermen about the need to stop the killing of dolphins and sharks. And we support the growing efforts for watching wild dolphins and whales rather than killing them. We support community efforts to replace dolphin killing with dolphin tourism in places like the Solomon Islands, and fight to block the import and export to captivity of wild dolphins, belugas, and orca whales.

Current Challenges

Commercial whaling, undertaken under the guise of “scientific” whaling, must be stopped. Japan is planning more illegal whaling in Antarctica, in defiance of the legal ruling against the country in the International Court of Justice at the Hague. Iceland and Norway are also defiant. We work to protect cetacean habitat from oil and gas threats as well as the Trump administration's plans to reduce the size of marine protected areas. We successfully worked to block the import of wild belugas captured in Russia for U.S. captivity facilities, and to blow the whistle on live dolphin exports from the cruel “cove” drive hunts to places such as Dubai and China. We continue to monitor the situation in the Solomon Islands to ensure that the current ban on the capture and export of dolphins is upheld.

Good News: Trump's Offshore Oil Drilling Runs Aground Mark J. Palmer, April 2019 The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has been scrambling since 2017 to carry out the federally required procedure of holding scoping meetings in an efficient and constructive manner. Created in 2010, BOEM is a bureau within the Department of the Interior, which manages the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) energy and mineral resources. For the past two years, they have been busy implementing President Trump’s America-first policies (nicknamed by the Administration “American Energy Dominance”), and most importantly the new National OCS Program. IMMP submitted a FOIA to the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Interior related to its public outreach efforts, and meetings with third parties, regarding the National OCS Program. The Office of the Secretary failed to respond and IMMP with Earth Island Advocates, represented by Georgetown Law’s Institute for Public Representation, ultimately filed a lawsuit under FOIA. Read More >

The Truth About Whaling Audrey Lee, October 2018 Whaling is the practice of hunting and killing whales by humans for multiple purposes and has been going on for more than a thousand years. Throughout the centuries, whaling became increasingly intense and widespread, especially with the development of the exploding harpoon and better boat engines to chase down the whales. In the 1960s, due to over-hunting, most large whale populations collapsed. Read More >

CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS Stop the Slaughter of Dolphins and Whales! Sign the Petition Demand that the IWC to include small cetaceans in their purview and advocate for increased cetacean protection. Sign Here > Faroe Island's Annual Pilot Whale Slaughter As Horrific As Taiji's Cove Pilot whales are killed each year in ways that are not humane. Watch the video and sign the petition! Read More > Watch Whales In Iceland, But Don't Eat Them! Tourism is among the biggest supporters of the Icelandic whaling. Learn what you can do to avoid supporting this inhumane practice. Read More >

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