Whale Stories

Whales and the plastics problem
Protecting whales is crucial to protecting healthy oceans for all of us. Yet even these ocean giants are being impacted by the "deadliest predator in the sea": plastic pollution.
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The Whales of Antarctica
WWF Magazine: Fall 2019Whales don’t recognize national boundaries. But they do have core geographies and habitats where they most often roam—whether to rest, mate, frolic, or feed. Discover a few of the Antarctic’s whales. -
Hot spot
WWF Magazine: Fall 2019As global temperatures shoot up, the vast storehouse of ice in Antarctica is at risk. A team tags whales, shares data, and works together to protect a changing ecosystem at the bottom of the world. -
How tagging whales can help us understand ocean pollution
WWF Magazine: Fall 2019Microplastics have accumulated abundantly in the Mediterranean. WWF is analyzing traces of plastic we find in whales to understand the strain that rising pollution puts on our oceans and marine life. -
New technology helps WWF and partners study whales in one of the most remote places on the planet
May 21, 2019Using new technology, like drones and digital tags, researchers have found that nearly every part of the Antarctica peninsula is important for whales’ feeding and resting. But it is also a hotspot for global climate change. WWF is calling for the protection of this remote wilderness in or effort to preserve 30% of the oceans by 2030.
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Remarkable video shows how minke whale feeds
February 20, 2018For the first time ever, scientists in Antarctica attached a camera to a minke whale and captured incredible evidence of how it feeds. The camera – one of three “whale cams” funded by WWF-Australia – is part of efforts by scientists to better protect whale feeding areas in Antarctica.
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A whale's eye view of Antarctica
April 14, 2017Whales are awe-inspiring and often elusive creatures. Their distribution and critical feeding areas are currently poorly understood, and as climate change and krill fishing increase, our time to learn more about these giant mammals is running out. However, with the help of Dr. Ari Friedlaender, a whale ecologist and National Geographic Explorer, WWF is using whale tagging to discover a wealth of new information.
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US permanently protects some of the Arctic's most important marine areas
December 20, 2016Just one week after scientists warned of unprecedented change brought on by warming in the Arctic, President Obama announced permanent protection for 115 million acres of federal waters in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Including previous presidential withdrawals, today's action protects nearly 125 million acres in the offshore Arctic from future oil and gas activity.
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A glimpse of a humpback whale swimming just beneath the surface
June 08, 2016Whales roam through all of the world’s oceans, communicating with complex and hauntingly beautiful sounds.
Their behavior is the most fascinating, least understood, most difficult to study, and least funded area of whale research today. -
Let’s keep offshore oil and gas drilling out of the Arctic’s most pristine spots
March 15, 2016We now have the opportunity to keep offshore drilling out of the Arctic Ocean. Every five years, the US government draws up a five-year planning outlining where oil companies can drill. The Arctic’s Beaufort and Chukchi seas are on the line. We have a chance to persuade our government to remove these pristine places from their list.
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An uncertain future for our living blue planet
September 15, 2015WWF’s Living Blue Planet Report on the health of the ocean finds that the marine vertebrate population has declined by 49 percent between 1970 and 2012. The report tracks 5,829 populations of 1,234 mammal, bird, reptile, and fish species through a marine living planet index. The evidence, analyzed by researchers at the Zoological Society of London, paints a troubling picture.
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As Arctic Ice Melts, Orcas Move in
September 10, 2015For another year, Arctic sea ice will cover much less of the Arctic Ocean than it used to. And with less ice comes more killer whales—predators that feed on other whales, including some recovering species.
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Baby Animals and Their Moms
May 04, 2015We all know how great moms can be. The same is true in parts of the wild. Take a look at a few images of animals with their parents.
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Giants of the Ocean: Whale Facts
February 12, 2015At the top of the food chain, whales play a vital role in the overall health of the environment. WWF documents and protects critical feeding and breeding areas, and migration routes of whales. We also work to help shift shipping lanes to limit noise and other disruptions for whales and other marine species.
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A Child's Message to the President: Please Stop the Killing of Whales
February 20, 2014Through scrawling penmanship and misspelled words, children plea for the President to do something about Iceland’s illegal whaling activities.
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A Whale of a Feast
December 10, 2013Unprecedented numbers of humpback whales have been gorging themselves for the last few months in the waters around Monterey Bay, California.
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Seeing Nature Up Close Inspires Work in the Halls of Government
July 08, 2013Working in international wildlife policy at WWF, I don’t get out to the field as much as my colleagues. But last March an incredibly inspiring moment in Baja, Mexico reminded me why I’m here.
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WWF Launches New iPad App to Bring the World’s Most Amazing Animals ‘Together’
January 14, 2013Now available for free in the iTunes App Store, ‘WWF Together’ is a unique interactive experience that brings you closer to the stories of elephants, whales, rhinos and other fascinating species. Discover the animal’s lives and the work of WWF in a way you’ve never seen before. Try out “tiger vision,” stay as still as the polar bear during a hunt, and chop the panda’s bamboo.
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Conservation Win for Whales
January 10, 2013At the urging of international governments and conservation organizations—including WWF—South Korea did not follow through on their intention to begin killing an endangered population of minke whales in 2013.
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New Hope for Marine Life
November 06, 2012On November 6, 2012, the Government of Mozambique announced the creation of the second largest marine protected area in Africa. Made up of ten islands off the coast of northern Mozambique, this coastal marine reserve in the Primeiras and Segundas Archipelago will cover more than 4020 square miles and contains abundant coral and turtle species.
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Whale Encounter Illustrates Urgent Need to Keep Waters Healthy
February 21, 2012We hit the trifecta. After an 18-hour boat ride through the wild waters of the Pacific, we reached Magdalena Bay, Mexico. The water was still. The sky was solid blue. We were told by our guides that dozens of gray whales, each just a few weeks old, were in this part of the bay and at the stage of their life when they wanted to do what all children want to do: play. It was the perfect set-up for whale watching.
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Monks Rally for Mekong Dolphins
January 25, 2012 -
A Pivotal Moment for Commercial Whaling
July 21, 2011