280 pilot whales killed in the latest Faroe Islands grind hunt — over 600 this year. Driven into inlets, killed with spinal lances. Despite health authorities warning of toxic contamination in whale meat, these hunts continue. #StopTheGrind

Big news! WDC’s Shorewatch co-ordinator, Katie Dyke, has been nominated for a National Biodiversity Network Award 🥳 Through Shorewatch, Katie has supported volunteers to clock up over one million minutes of watches in Scotland and record more than 30,000 whales and dolphins. 1/2

Dolphins and whales play together more than we ever realised. From 200 photos & videos worldwide, scientists found: 🐬often initiate playful behaviour. 🐳 sometimes join in by rolling, slapping fins, even flashing their bellies. Play isn’t just fun it’s vital for bonding, culture and wellbeing.

🙌 Incredible news! Huge thanks to everyone who made this possible. Who’s excited for next year?! 🎉

Today is about celebrating YOU, our incredible WDC family💙 Your support helps us fight for safer seas, an end to captivity & helps us share the horrific truth about whaling. Every action makes a difference. Please donate today to help us keep fighting for these magnificent beings: bit.ly/3AnSZRV

On Tuesday, we joined 20 NGOs at @TUI HQ in Germany with one message: stop promoting venues that exploit whales & dolphins for profit. The world is watching, TUI. Will you do the right thing? 👉 See highlights below - tinyurl.com/bdeftvb9 Which image speaks to you?

We’re thrilled to welcome @mcroft07.bsky.social as a WDC Ambassador! 🎉 Mel is an amazing bodypaint & makeup streamer who’s using her creativity to inspire people & raise awareness of our mission. 🌊 Thank you Mel for your support! 💙 @gamesforwaves.bsky.social

Two dolphins. One “party.” A tragic end. This October, Twitch streamer @mousie.yogscast.com is streaming for @whalesorg.bsky.social to fight captivity. You can join too - creators everywhere are taking part in Orcatober to raise funds & awareness. Sign up: tiltify.com/wdc/orcatober

📢 Last chance to support @whalesorg.bsky.social with the Table Top Tag Team bundle from @humblebundle.com & @marmaladegames.bsky.social! For £5.34 you can get 5 digital games including Battleship and Wings of Glory (or £10.69 for all 10 in the bundle)! Link 👉 www.humblebundle.com/games/table-...

We're is outside TUI HQ in Hanover today with an incredible coalition of NGOs to say: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. TUI is still selling tickets to venues that keep whales & dolphins in cruel captivity. We’re united: TUI must stop promoting & profiting from suffering. Are you with us?

Lottie’s back from Norway. Her mission: making sure whaling is on the political agenda ahead of September's elections. At Norway’s biggest political gathering, Arendalsuka, her message was clear — whaling must not be ignored 👉 tinyurl.com/4ck8dk5h PHOTO: ekvals from Getty Images Signature

Scientists listening deep beneath the waves off California have noticed something worrying: blue whales are singing less. Why? Their food source, krill has dwindled. Find out more here: tinyurl.com/2rb8fs7j

🔈Only TWO days left to join our Swim Serpentine team for whales and dolphins this September! Two miles. Two laps. One mission: protect whales & dolphins. 🚨 Registration closes 16:00 Thu 21 Aug – don’t miss your chance! 👉 tinyurl.com/mr2dnhur

Whales don’t belong on a menu. We had the privilege of speaking with business leader Deborah Meaden about the sale of whale meat and the role businesses play in protecting our planet. We’re proud to partner with Michelin Guide to #TakeWhalesOffTheMenu.

TUI is selling suffering as entertainment. It still promotes whale and dolphin captivity and breeding. So we’ve brought leading charities together to say: Enough. Who would you rather book with: a company that chooses compassion or one that chooses pain? 👉 tinyurl.com/mt2fnnut

Swim Free Earth 💔 At only 16 years old, Earth has sadly passed away at Port Nagoya Aquarium, Japan, after refusing food for several days. Born in captivity and taken from his mother at age seven, he lived his life in a concrete tank. Now, his aunt Rin remains alone. 1/2

See the impact of your gaming with @jinglejam.co.uk ! We're happy to bring you another update from Solinia in Peru, including the amazing new boat funded by Jingle Jam 2024! 🎉

For decades, whales and dolphins have been confined to tanks, bred for profit, exploited for entertainment, and too often dying in captivity. Despite their policies, #TUI continues to support this cruelty by backing facilities that keep the cycle going. 1/2

A deadly algae bloom in South Australia now threatens the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary. Over 13,000 fish, shellfish, rays, sharks, and other species have been killed so far 👉 tinyurl.com/2s3rctre 📷 Oliver Wieczorek

The UK hunted whales for 350+ years, ending only in the 1960s. John Burton, part of a 1950s whaling crew, was so impacted by the experience he became an anti-whaling advocate. He shares his story with Matt Sowerby in a powerful reflection 👉 tinyurl.com/3p3nb4vx

Keeping 🐋&🐬in tanks isn’t education, it’s a horror show. Young advocate Leo is fed up with young people being used as an excuse for animal cruelty. 👉Watch his video & decide - are you with him? youtu.be/Vfnj-kOK498 #DontGoToTheShow #WhoWouldYouRatherBookWith #EndCaptivity #EmptyTheTanks

TUI is still promoting captive cruelty. Whales and dolphins are social, intelligent beings but TUI continues to support attractions that imprison them, like Loro Parque, in conflict with their own animal welfare policy. Photo credit: Daniel Fontes / Pexels

Confi, a young, solitary dolphin who became well-known in Galicia, Spain has died. Despite public warnings and legal protection, many people continued to try and swim with him. Sadly, he was recently found dead in a dock, with clear signs of a propeller strike. Image: CEMMA

TUI refuses to stop profiting from the suffering of captive whales and dolphins. We’ve had enough. More pressure is needed, so we’ve joined with other leading NGOs to form a powerful coalition to expose TUI’s part in driving the suffering. And you can join us. 1/4

Fish populations in the seas around Japan have hit a record low and the fishing industry is feeling the pressure. Could this be a turning point? WDC’s Katrin was at the Ocean Summit in Tokyo, where even the Prime Minister called for urgent action to restore the ocean.

Orcas have been seen giving themselves kelp massages! Researchers call it "allokelping", a behaviour that may help with skincare or social bonding. Most commonly seen in Southern Resident orcas, it’s yet another reminder of how complex and fascinating these dolphins truly are. #WorldOrcaWeek

Did you know whales and dolphins have unique cultures? 🌊 From migration routes to hunting skills, this knowledge can be passed down through generations and can shape their survival.

It’s #WorldOrcaDay! Let’s talk about one of the strangest orca mysteries: Are orcas wearing salmon as hats? 🎩 Southern Resident orcas have been seen placing dead salmon on their heads... and not eating them. 1/2

Huayrurín, the last captive Amazon River dolphin, has died at 19 due to a cardiac arrest. Rescued as a calf when his mother died in a fishing net, he has spent nearly his entire life in captivity 👉 tinyurl.com/2j8peezn 1/2

An early and busy morning at #DevelopBrighton! 🏖️ Sally has been out on Brighton beach with other attendees and they've picked a huge 12 kilograms of litter 😱 Thanks to all who joined in, and make sure to find Sally if you're looking to network about game dev and charity this week at Develop!

BREAKING: Mexico bans dolphin and marine mammal shows! 🎉 A major win for ending whale and dolphin captivity worldwide. Find out more here: tinyurl.com/3pr4hkns #DontGoToTheShow Image: Paul Knight

Amazing images from @xpandinghorizons.bsky.social. I think the top left is a personal favourite.

Do you know humpback whales have evolved a unique way of catching food called 'bubble-net feeding'? Working together, they swim beneath schools of small fish or krill and blow spirals of bubbles to create a “net,” trapping their prey in a tight ball. 1/2

Ghost gear - lost and abandoned fishing gear is killing whales, dolphins & marine life in UK seas -but thanks to your support, we’re taking action to stop it. 1/2

Heartbreaking: Captive orca #Kamea has died at just 11 years old at #SeaWorldSanAntonio. Wild orcas live 50–90 years. In captivity, their lives are tragically short. 👉 tinyurl.com/3478mrx6 #DontGoToTheShow - let her generation be the last. 🐋 Image: Floppyfins photography

🎉 NO WHALING IN ICELAND THIS SUMMER! 🐋 We shared the amazing news back in April that fin whale hunting in Iceland was being paused and now it gets even better! The last remaining minke whaler is selling their boat, which means one incredible thing:

Behind the smiles at Kobe Suma SeaWorld (@kobe_sumasea) are two orcas, Ran and Stella, trapped in a concrete tank. Footage has revealed unsafe, stressful conditions risking both orca and human lives. 1/2 youtube.com/shorts/0by0o...

WDC has partnered with Michelin to help Change The Course 🌊 Michelin is one of the most influential voices in the food world and we're working with them to send a clear message that endangered, threatened and protected species have no place on the menu. Find out more below. 1/2

🚨 Yahoo! Japan isn’t just selling whale & dolphin meat, they’re selling toxic meat. A new investigation found mercury levels 47x above Japan’s safety limit in products sold on their site, including pet food. 1/2

245 pilot whales including 25 pregnant females and 13 juveniles were slaughtered in a Grindadráp on 12 June in the Faroe Islands. An entire family group lost in just 30 minutes. 💔 We stand against this cruelty and with the Faroese voices fighting for change. Find out more here: tinyurl.com/59sv79ed

You might know Japan for its whaling — but there’s another side. One where people are working to protect whales and dolphins, not hunt them.

This stunning orca footage was captured by our Scottish Dolphin Centre officer Cath Bain. Sadly, we have had reports of boats getting too close to whales and dolphins in the local region recently. 1/3

It’s time to make the UK #GhostGearFree Whales & dolphins get entangled and suffocate or suffer slow deaths over weeks or months. Some even eat the gear, causing internal bleeding, infection & starvation. 1/3

The UK may ban #bottomtrawling within some additional #MarineProtectedAreas. After years of pressure, change could finally be coming. We’ve campaigned hard for this, we really hope the #UKgovernment will do the right thing. Find out more about this potential turning point here: tinyurl.com/k5banvpy

Whales are helping each other escape from abandoned fishing gear. Researchers recently witnessed some fascinating cooperative behaviour. Read more here: tinyurl.com/eck4y5zf

Happy World Ocean Day! 🌊 Today, we’re launching our campaign to make the UK #GhostGearFREE. Ghost gear — lost or abandoned fishing equipment — is drifting through our seas, killing whales and dolphins in horrific ways.

The World Ocean Day Festival starts tomorrow and we're HYPED! 🙌 Check out the Games For Waves stream schedule for the next week, and don't forget to set your reminders for 6pm BST on 5th June for the launch of our biggest Steam sale yet #WODFest🌍🌊 👉 twitch.tv/gamesforwaves

It’s #WorldEnvironmentDay 🌍 But beneath UK seas, a silent crisis unfolds. Thanks to Sir David Attenborough’s “Ocean”, the truth about bottom trawling is out: 🐬 Kills whales & dolphins 🛑 Destroys seafloor 🌫️ Releases carbon This isn’t fishing. It’s destruction. 1/3

As part of our #NorwayForWhales campaign, WDC teamed up with #WorldSavingHustle in 2023 to support Norwegian activists working to end whaling. We helped launch their 1st nationwide activism week & ran a workshop at their conference in April 2024 to give local campaigners the tools to take action. 🧵

Great news. WDC's first-ever Shorewatch site has launched in partnership with @rspbengland.bsky.social at Bempton Cliffs 🥳 tinyurl.com/34hduycd