OSAKA, JAPAN - October 28, 2007 -- Acclaimed professional surfer and dolphin defender Dave Rastovich made a bold declaration against the ongoing commercial slaughter of dolphins in Japan by leading an international crew of surfers, musicians, actors and activists in a traditional surfing "paddle-out" ceremony to honor the memory of the thousands of dolphins killed each year at the notorious "killing cove" in Taiji Japan.


Read full article: 'Pro Surfer Dave Rastovich Risks Arrest In Japan Paddling Out For Dolphins'

Recent Ministry of Tourism figures reveal that New Zealand's dolphins earned more than $24million for the country last year, and their true economic value could be much higher.

According to data sourced by WWF-New Zealand from the Ministry of Tourism, dolphin swimming and watching tours directly brought in an estimated $24,600,000 to the New Zealand economy in the year ending December 2006.


Read full article: 'Dolphins a $24million Asset for New Zealand'

By Zoe Sinclair

DUBAI — The team caring for 28 bottlenose dolphins in Dubai imported from the Solomon Islands yesterday rejected environmentalists’ concerns that they may have been mishandled.

The deal for the dolphins between the Solomon Islands Marine Mammal Education Centre and Exporters Limited and Kerzner Istithmar attracted controversy mainly because a shipment of the company’s dolphins to Mexico in 2003 subsequently saw nine of the dolphins die.


Read full article: 'Dolphins having a whale of a time in Dubai'

Historical records relating to days of old and modern times alike contain numerous eyewitness accounts of rather dangerous encounters between humans and mysterious marine creatures. Those accounts were provided by both Russian and foreign seamen of the merchant marine and the Navy.


Read full article: 'Whales and dolphins commit mass beaching suicides'

By LISA STIFFLER
P-I REPORTER

A rare peek at the blubber of local orcas shows that the endangered animals are so contaminated with pollutants that it could be making them sick.

U.S. and Canadian scientists reported Wednesday in the Marine Pollution Bulletin that the amount of PCBs, a long-banned industrial chemical, had slightly declined in the orcas that frequent Puget Sound. But the levels in all nine animals that were sampled were high enough to cause health problems based on earlier research done with captive harbor seals.


Read full article: 'Orcas so full of pollutants, it's enough to sicken them'

Area around Hormozgan in Iran indicated for high levels of pollution due to petrol waste, industrial discharges and shipping. Residents refuse to eat fish caught locally. But local authorities are more concerned about bad press than tackling the issue at stake.


Read full article: 'The death of dozens of dolphins reveals Persian Gulf pollution'

California's delicate marine environment could be threatened by the declining numbers of sea otters decimated by pollution, commercial fishing, and mysterious brain infections, scientists say.

"When the otters are gone the kelp forests change to a barren land," Jim Estes, an otter expert and marine biologist with the US Geological Survey, told AFP.

Sea otters are known as a keystone predator. They eat sea urchins, which feed on kelp, thus maintaining the environmental balance for other species.


Read full article: 'California sea otters key to coastline ecosystem'

Gov. Charlie Crist is asking Florida Wildlife Commissioners to postpone a vote on whether to change the status of manatees from endangered to threatened.


Read full article: 'Gov. Crist Asks To Postpone Manatee Status Vote'

Dolphins, seals and porpoises could soon become a far more common sight along the Thames, scientists said today.
More than 100 of the sea mammals have been spotted in the river over the last year.

Researchers say numbers could greatly increase in coming years as the creatures begin to feed in the river more often because of an increased number of fish.


Read full article: 'Thames is fit for porpoise'

Dozens of dead dolphins washing up along the Mediterranean coast have alerted environmentalists to a virus they fear will become an epidemic, a report says.


Read full article: 'Virus threatens dolphins'

Barbara McMahon in Sydney
Tuesday August 28, 2007
The Guardian

The Solomon Islands is to resume the export of live bottlenose dolphins, with local fishermen being encouraged to sell the mammals as a way to earn money.

Up to 100 will be allowed to be exported every year, according to the Solomons' fisheries minister, Nollen Leni. The dolphins are likely to be sold to marine parks, where they will perform in shows.



Read full article: 'Solomons to resume export of live dolphins'

WAIKIKI — To help boost the declining population of Hawaiian monk seals, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service implemented a new recovery plan yesterday for this critically endangered species.

The Hawaiian monk seal population is about 1,200 worldwide, the lowest ever recorded.


Read full article: 'Hawaiian monk seal decline 'unacceptable''

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Prosthetic specialist Kevin Carroll travels the United States tackling the toughest human amputation cases, so it was only natural that he was also drawn to Winter -- the only known dolphin to survive the loss of her powerful tail flukes.

"My heart went out to her, and I was thinking I could probably put a tail on her," said Carroll, vice-president of prosthetics at Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc.

Recreating one of the most powerful swimming mechanisms in nature turned out to be a lot tougher than expected. But after months of experimenting, Carroll and a unique team of experts are well on their way to, as one of them puts it, "MacGyvering" a tail for Winter.


Read full article: 'Winter the dolphin may get a new tail'

Bay of Biscay (Aug 20, 2007 17:27 EST) Researchers from the wildlife conservation charity Marinelife are extremely concerned about what it is NOT seeing this summer in the Bay of Biscay.

Marinelife’s unique long-term monitoring project, the Biscay Dolphin Research Programme (BDRP) has been conducting scientific monthly whale, dolphin and seabird surveys through the English Channel and Bay of Biscay for the last 13 years, using the P&O Cruise Ferry, The Pride of Bilbao, as a research platform. In addition, a BDRP full-time Wildlife Officer collects daily data on dolphin abundance. The BDRP surveys have detected more than 20 species of whale and dolphin in the Bay of Biscay and counted over a hundred thousand animals.


Read full article: 'Where Have All The Dolphins Gone This Summer?'

Warsaw - Two dolphins frolicking near the Polish Baltic Sea port of Gdynia at the weekend thrilled Polish marine biologists, who say dolphins were last seen in the area more than two centuries ago.


Read full article: 'Rare sighting of dolphins in Baltic'