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VICTORY! Massive new Ocean Sanctuary established off Antarctica!

Posted by Willie Mackenzie - 27th October 2016
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All rights reserved. Credit: Greenpeace

Today, the largest marine protected area in the world was created in the Ross Sea, off the coast of Antarctica. This is a HUGE victory for the whales, penguins, and toothfish that live there and for the millions of people standing up to protect our… Read More

10 big reasons a new runway at Heathrow is bad for the UK

Posted by India Thorogood - 24th October 2016
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All rights reserved. Credit: Climate Camp

1. A new runway will fuel climate change This month the world ratified the most ambitious climate agreement ever. The Paris agreement couldn’t come soon enough- 2016 was the hottest year on record and the Arctic sea ice reached the second lowest minimum ever. Read More

10 good reasons to protect whales

Posted by Willie Mackenzie - 21st October 2016
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All rights reserved. Credit: Kate Davison

Killing whales for food has been happening for millennia. But it was commercial whaling – turning whales into barrels of oil for profit – that led to the wholesale destruction of most of the world’s populations of big whales.The loss of whales from our oceans is the same story as… Read More

Why is everyone talking about whale poo?

Posted by Willie Mackenzie - 20th October 2016
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All rights reserved. Credit: Paul Hilton

Whales are special. No, not for any stereotypical hippy la-la reasons, this is *science*! Healthy oceans need lots of healthy whale populations: they keep things in balance, help disperse and mix nutrients, support entire ecosystems and help fight climate change. Surprised? Read on… Commercial whaling was bad news for whales,… Read More

Why the South Atlantic should be a sanctuary for whales.

Posted by Willie Mackenzie - 20th October 2016
Image for Why the South Atlantic should be a sanctuary for whales.
All rights reserved. Credit: Greenpeace

One of the most significant issues being discussed and voted on at the upcoming International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Slovenia is the call to create a Whale Sanctuary in the South Atlantic. But what is a whale sanctuary? Why does it matter? And what’s so special about the South… Read More

A brief history of whales and commercial whaling

Posted by Willie Mackenzie - 20th October 2016
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All rights reserved. Credit: Paul Hilton

Commercial whaling devastated the world’s biggest whale species, pushing some of them to the very brink of extinction in the early to mid 20th Century. Whaling for meat, oil, or whalebone was not a new idea, but new explosive harpoons and industrialised factory ships plundering the seas for whales had… Read More