The Whale Sanctuary Blog

Whale Sanctuary Project Joins Rescue Effort for Orca J-50

The Whale Sanctuary Project has joined an emergency effort in the Pacific Northwest to try to save the life of ...

Posted August 7, 2018 in News

A Mother Orca’s Grief – in the Ocean and in Captivity

We have all been transfixed by the scene of the mother orca Tahlequah carrying her dead infant in a display ...

Posted August 3, 2018 in News, Opinion

Q&A with Dr. Lori Marino

How will a whale adapt to the wide-open space of a sanctuary after years in a concrete tank? Lori Marino ...

Posted July 11, 2018 in Learn More, News

If Bill S-203 Dies, Will Reincarnation Follow?

Canada’s Bill S-203 ­– to end the captivity of whales and dolphins – was deprived of a final vote as ...

Posted June 29, 2018 in News

More Dolphin Deaths at Zoos and Theme Parks

The deaths of Maxine at the Brookfield Zoo and Alia at Dolphinaris raise the question, yet again, of whether these ...

Posted June 25, 2018 in News, Opinion

Senator Christmas’s Poignant Speech to End Cetacean Captivity in Canada

Sen. Daniel Christmas addresses the Canadian Senate on behalf of S-203 – the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins ...

Posted June 15, 2018 in News

Sen. Sinclair’s Powerful Speech to End Cetacean Captivity in Canada

Senator Murray Sinclair of Manitoba addresses his colleagues on behalf of S-203 – the Ending the Captivity of Whales and ...

Posted June 1, 2018 in News

The Lummi Nation’s 7,000-Mile Trek to Free Tokitae

Members of the Lummi Nation are on a 7,000-mile trek to visit one of their own, the orca Tokitae, in ...

Posted May 22, 2018 in News

New York Judge Raises Key Questions about Animal Captivity

Do orcas and belugas, along with certain other animals, have a legal right not to be kept in captivity for ...

Posted May 14, 2018 in News

Ban on Whale Captivity in Canada Approaches Vote

The Canadian Senate is set to vote on a bill to outlaw whale and dolphin captivity. The vote may come ...

Posted May 7, 2018 in News

Among Beluga Whales, Family and Culture Come First

New discoveries from a 32-year study of beluga whales show the extent to which these animals value culture and family ...

Posted April 27, 2018 in Learn More, News

Daphne Sheldrick – Matriarch of Sanctuaries

At the Elephant Orphanage, Daphne Sheldrick set the gold standard for the sanctuary movement all over the world.

Posted April 20, 2018 in News

Seaside Sanctuary Concept

A concept image of the seaside sanctuary that the Whale Sanctuary Project will be creating in a natural environment that ...

Posted April 12, 2018 in News

The Whale Sanctuary and the First Nations

In each region where the Whale Sanctuary Project is conducting our site search, we’ve been helped, guided and encouraged by ...

Posted April 5, 2018 in News

The Lummi Nation of Washington State

During the mid-1800s, in what would soon be known as Washington State, the Lummi people were exiled from their tribal ...

Posted April 5, 2018 in Learn More, News

The Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis of British Columbia

During our first field visit to prospective Canadian sanctuary sites, in July 2017, Whale Sanctuary Project president Dr. Lori Marino ...

Posted April 5, 2018 in Learn More, News

Orca Katina Suffers Injury to Dorsal Fin

Katina, an orca who lives at SeaWorld Orlando, has suffered a significant gash to her dorsal fin. She sustained the ...

Posted April 2, 2018 in News

Joel Manby Resigns as CEO of SeaWorld

We learned this morning that SeaWorld Entertainment’s CEO, Joel Manby, has stepped down in the wake of the company reporting ...

Posted February 27, 2018 in For the Media, News

Talks and Site Visits in Nova Scotia

Lori Marino, President of the Whale Sanctuary Project, was back in Nova Scotia this month to meet with provincial officials ...

Posted February 22, 2018 in News

If Only There Were a Seaside Sanctuary for Him

This baby beluga was spotted from the air lying almost dead on a deserted beach in Alaska. And everyone who ...

Posted February 20, 2018 in News

National Aquarium Discusses Plan for Dolphin Sanctuary

While the Whale Sanctuary Project pursues its plan to create the first seaside sanctuary for captive orcas and belugas, the ...

Posted January 26, 2018 in News

Vancouver Aquarium Ends Captive Whale and Dolphin Program

The Vancouver Aquarium will no longer keep whales and dolphins in captivity. CEO John Nightingale told Canada’s CBC News that ...

Posted January 18, 2018 in News

Dolphin Mirror Self-Recognition: the Science and the Ethics

New scientific paper shows two dolphins recognizing themselves in a mirror. This advanced cognitive capacity has only been observed in ...

Posted January 12, 2018 in News, Opinion

TEDx Talk “Whales Without Walls” by Charles Vinick

In this November 2017 TEDx talk, Charles Vinick, Executive Director of the Whale Sanctuary Project, describes what he’s learned over ...

Posted January 6, 2018 in News

Whales and Dolphins: “Who” They Are

In this talk, Dr. Lori Marino talks about whales and dolphins: “who” they are, their history as a species, and ...

Posted January 1, 2018 in Learn More, News

2017: A New Beginning for Captive Whales

Thanks to you, 2017 has exceeded our expectations in site selection, fund raising, and the growing movement to bring an ...

Posted December 13, 2017 in News

Morgan the Orca: a Tale of Betrayal

Morgan, an orca who was captured 10 years ago, is pregnant. A story of corrupt justice and corporate dealing involving ...

Posted December 9, 2017 in News, Opinion

The Blackfish Effect

It’s coming up five years since the movie Blackfish premiered at Sundance. How has the landscape changed for whales and dolphins ...

Posted November 20, 2017 in News

Superpod One – Where it All Began

In the summer of 2011, a group of scientists, journalists and former orca trainers met up on San Juan Island. ...

Posted November 11, 2017 in Learn More

Sanctuary Groups Share Info at Marine Mammal Conference

The Whale Sanctuary Project presented a workshop at the conference of the Society for Marine Mammal Biology last week, in ...

Posted November 2, 2017 in News

Will Canada Ban Captivity for Whales and Dolphins?

Canada has taken another step toward retiring whales and dolphins from captivity in marine parks and aquariums. The Coastal First ...

Posted October 20, 2017 in News

Dental Damage and Decay Among Orcas at Marine Parks

A new study, “Tooth Damage in Captive Orcas”, is the first comprehensive, peer-reviewed, quantitative assessment of how extensive tooth damage ...

Posted October 12, 2017 in Opinion

Marine Conservationist Carl Safina Joins the Board

Conservationist and author Carl Safina joins forces with The Whale Sanctuary Project to establish the first permanent whale sanctuary in ...

Posted September 29, 2017 in For the Media

Sylvia Earle & Jean-Michel Cousteau Join the Team

A big welcome to two new members of our Advisory Committee: Sylvia Earle and Jean-Michel Cousteau.

Posted September 28, 2017 in News

Tales from the Whale Side – Seven

Why would these beings declare unilateral peace with humans and not with dolphins and seals, whom they hunt and eat? ...

Posted September 11, 2017 in Learn More

Tales from the Whale Side – Six

One of the dolphins came briefly nearer the boat, and then suddenly fled. At that point, someone discovered that one ...

Posted September 9, 2017 in Learn More