Articles About Marine Life

Since the International Whaling Commission (IWC) last met in person in 2018, two significant milestones have passed: the 75th anniversary of the IWC’s founding treaty—the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW)—in December 2021...

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has suspended its “blue fish tick” eco-certification of the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery following challenges from AWI and allies. The millions of lines tied to the pots and traps...

In July, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jared Huffman (D-CA), and Suzan DelBene (D-WA) introduced the Strengthening Welfare in Marine Settings (SWIMS) Act (HR 8514/S 4740). This legislation would phase out...

For the second year in a row, researchers from the United States and Norway failed to measure a whale’s brain waves to determine how they might react to naval sonar and noise from oil and...

Almost 3 million whales were killed for their oil and meat in the 20th century, bringing many species and populations to the brink of extinction. Forty years ago, in July 1982, the International Whaling Commission...

Fewer than 10 vaquita porpoises remain in Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California. Yet, calves were observed during a 2021 survey, and new evidence, published in Science, indicates that the vaquita’s historical rarity reduces inbreeding risk...

In June 2021, a dubious US government–funded attempt to study minke whales’ response to ocean noise began in the northern Norway region of Lofoten. (See AWI Quarterly, summer 2021.) It involves stretching a net between...

In October 1972, during the Nixon administration, the United States passed an environmental law well ahead of its time. The Marine Mammal Protection Act, inspired by horrific images of dolphins dying in tuna nets, factory...

In September 2021, a damning inspection report prepared by the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) was released for Miami Seaquarium. (See AWI Quarterly, winter 2021.) The report chronicled a...

Yet another country has concluded that keeping cetaceans in captivity for human entertainment is an archaic practice that should end. After a two-year effort by activists in Kazakhstan, as well as international efforts by AWI...