Program Term Archive

Marine Wildlife

Study Shows Captivity Curtails Orca Lifespan

Marine Wildlife

In 1995, Robert Small and Douglas DeMaster calculated annual survivorship rates (ASRs) in captive orcas and compared these results to the ASRs of wild orcas living in the Pacific Northwest...

US Appeals WTO Ruling in Favor of Dolphin-Killing Tuna Fishermen

Marine Wildlife

The World Trade Organization (WTO) issued its latest ruling in April in a decades-long dispute between Mexico and the United States over “Dolphin Safe” labeling of tuna caught in the...

Sharks and Barks: Texas Two-Step for Animals

Companion Animals, Marine Wildlife

Two bills recently signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott mean good news for animals. HB 1579 prohibits buying and selling shark fins in the state, and makes Texas the 10th state...

Conservation, Animal Protection Groups Call for Trade Sanctions Against Icelandic Companies Linked to Whaling

Press ReleaseJune 15, 2015Marine Wildlife

A coalition of international animal protection and conservation organizations has urgently asked the Obama administration to impose economic sanctions against Icelandic companies with corporate ties to the commercial whaling industry....

Conservation Groups Denounce Icelandic Attempts to Ship Whale Meat Through Russian Waters

Press ReleaseJune 12, 2015Marine Wildlife

WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation and the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) have discovered that, in the latest desperate effort to prop up a dying industry, Hvalur hf, Iceland’s fin whaling...

Endangered Species Act Protection Sought for Thorny Skates

Press ReleaseMay 28, 2015Marine Wildlife

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and Defenders of Wildlife (Defenders) filed a petition today with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to list the Northwest Atlantic population of the thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata), a species of fish, as...

New TEDx Talk Highlights Why SeaWorld Should Retire Shamu

Press ReleaseMay 26, 2015Marine Wildlife

In a TEDx Talk released today entitled “Let’s Throw Shamu a Retirement Party!,” Animal Welfare Institute marine mammal scientist Dr. Naomi Rose advocates for the gradual phasing out of exhibits...

AWI and Allies Win Big Victory on Behalf of Marine Animals

Marine Wildlife

A federal judge ruled on March 31 that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) acted illegally in approving US Navy testing and training activities that threaten widespread harm to marine...

AWI Staff Helps Stem Trash Tide Along DC River

Marine Wildlife, Terrestrial Wildlife

We pour a lot of plastic into the world’s oceans—directly and through the myriad waterways that spill into the seas. A pioneering study published in Science in February estimated that, in 2010...

Family is Everything

Marine Wildlife

On April 18, Dr. Naomi Rose gave a talk on captive orcas at TedX Bend in Oregon. She focused on the idea that family is everything to orcas and that...