OceanCare International

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OceanCare International

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OceanCare is an international marine conservation organisation with Special Consultative Status at the UN. https://www.oceancare.org/en/

OceanCare works worldwide to protect the ocean and its incredible marine wildlife. OceanCare is a Swiss non-profit organisation. It was founded in 1989 and has a strong commitment to realistic and cooperative initiatives. The organisation works at national and international level in the areas of marine pollution, environmental changes, fisheries, whaling, sealing, captivity of marine mammals and public education. OceanCare holds Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) and is a partner of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), and the UNEP/CMS Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS), as well as UNEP/MAP. OceanCare has also been accredited to the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) and is part of the Sciences and Technology Major Group., which is the governing body of UNEP and is a part of the UNEP Global Partnership on Marine Litter.

04/10/2026

⚠️ 🐋 Whaling is not only a conservation matter. It is an animal welfare issue.

At in Hobart, OceanCare brought the welfare of whales to the International Whaling Commission. We are deeply concerned about the methods used to kill whales. There is no humane way to kill a whale at sea.

👉 But welfare concerns go far beyond hunting. All forms of pollution, including underwater noise, chemical pollution, entanglement in nets, marine debris and declining prey abundance affect whales, individually and cumulatively. These factors are usually considered from a conservation perspective. What we highlighted to the International Whaling Commission is that they have a welfare component too.

We also drew attention to the increasing reports of emaciated whales from several populations around the world, and the potentially severe implications for their welfare, health and reproduction.

Animal welfare science and conservation science are closely linked. By using welfare science, we can inform conservation work as well as develop the welfare work itself.

Our new report, "Beneath the Surface: Marine Mammal Welfare in a Challenging World", sets this out in detail. Link in the comments. 🔗

03/10/2026

After a long debate in Hobart, the proposal for a whale sanctuary in the South Atlantic once again failed to gain the necessary three-quarters majority when it was voted on at the 70th meeting of the International Whaling Commission, IWC70.

👉 The sanctuary was proposed by Brazil and other South American countries, supported by Gabon and South Africa. The majority of countries at the meeting supported the proposal, but a simple majority is not enough under the IWC rules.

OceanCare is disappointed by this outcome. The continued blockade of establishing the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary shows the bad intentions of a block of countries preventing efforts by the countries at both sides of the Atlantic to take better action. Good faith works differently. ❗

Brazil has announced it will bring the proposal back at the next IWC meeting in two years. OceanCare will support it again. 🌊 🐋

02/10/2026

The 70th meeting of the International Whaling Commission, IWC70, has just ended in Hobart, Tasmania, and the most important news first: the moratorium on commercial whaling, in place since 1986, was upheld. 🐋💙

👉Once again, it came under attack from a handful of pro-whaling nations, led by Antigua and Barbuda. Their resolution was a Trojan horse: behind a procedural text lay an effort to undermine the ban. Antigua and Barbuda has no commercial whaling history of its own, yet the country has tried for the third time to move the IWC towards legalising a resumption of commercial whaling.

The results are satisfactory overall, as the majority of countries stood strong in defending the ban, one of the most shining success stories in the global effort to protect wildlife. The meeting decided also on a resolution on vessel strikes, proposed by EU member states, was adopted by vote after no consensus could be reached. The South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary, put forward by Brazil and other South American countries with the support of Gabon and South Africa, once again fell short of the required three-quarters majority. OceanCare also presented our new report on marine mammal welfare to the Commission, calling for far more attention to the welfare of whales beyond hunting.

Thank you so much to everybody following us and supporting OceanCare in the work we have carried out here. 🌊

30/09/2026

Day 3 at International Whaling Commission, , in Hobart: whale welfare deserves far more attention. ⚠️ 🐋

Today, Humane World for Animals, the Environmental Investigation Agency, OceanCare and 11 other organisations addressed the Commission on the wider welfare implications facing whales.

Commercial whaling is inherently cruel, and the lack of data provided on it remains a concern. But welfare is not only about hunting. Underwater noise, chemical and plastic pollution, bycatch, entanglement and declining prey abundance affect cetaceans individually and cumulatively, and these impacts receive far too little attention.

👉 We also raised the increasing reports of emaciated whales from several populations around the world, and what this could mean for their welfare, health and reproduction. Animal welfare science and conservation science are closely linked: investigations into health and welfare can inform conservation work, and emaciated whales are a clear example of this.

The Commission is already doing important work on this.❗ We call on the IWC to give animal welfare science much greater weight in its work, and for the Scientific Committee to recognise that welfare science is relevant to its work too.

Our new report, "𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲: 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱", sets this out in detail. Link in the comments. 🔗

29/09/2026

🐋 Day 2 at International Whaling Commission, , in Hobart.

Today the IWC Scientific Committee reported on how whale populations are doing. The good news: they are recovering. But still far too slowly.

That is exactly why the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary matters. Co-sponsored by Argentina, Brazil, Gabon, South Africa and Uruguay, it would protect a region where most large whale species were severely depleted. Despite multi-decade efforts and backing from Latin American and international conservation groups, the sanctuary proposal has repeatedly faced hurdles, falling just short of the required three-quarters majority vote at the last IWC due to coordinated opposition from pro-whaling blocks.

After 20 years, a vote is expected later this week. We are in Hobart to support it however we can, and we hope that this time the majority agrees on the establishment of the sanctuary.

In this video, Maximin Djondo, OceanCare's Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Specialist for Western Africa, reports from the meeting.

Follow our updates as unfolds.

🌊

28/09/2026

🐋The 70th meeting of the International Whaling Commission ( ) opened today in Hobart, Tasmania. OceanCare’s Managing Director Fabienne McLellan is on the ground with our expert team. OceanCare has been attending IWC meetings since 1992. 🌊

👉This week, we will defend the global whaling ban which is under renewed pressure and build on the progress the IWC has made over the past 40 years. We will support the proposed South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary and call for stronger action to prevent whales from being hit by ships, better protection for small cetaceans such as dolphins from hunting and other threats, and greater attention to whale welfare.

After 40 years, the message is clear: this is not the time to weaken whale protection. It is time to strengthen it. 🙌

In this video, Fabienne shares what is at stake in Hobart. Follow our updates as the meeting unfolds.

25/09/2026

These ocean giants are sending a warning. 🐋❗️

While the debate over whaling continues, the threats facing whales go far beyond it.
Across species and regions, more and more emaciated whales are being reported, from Australia and South Africa to both coasts of North America. Changes in their prey appear to be the main driver.

👉Southern right whales off South Africa show what this means. The body condition of mothers has declined by around 23%, and they are having calves less often. This is linked to changes in the Antarctic, where ocean warming is profoundly affecting the krill they feed on. And this is only part of a much bigger picture: climate change and plastic, chemical and noise pollution are threatening whales and the ocean they depend on.

Starting on Monday, the International Whaling Commission will meet in Hobart, Tasmania, for its 70th meeting (IWC70), and OceanCare will be there with a clear message: the threats have changed, and the IWC must change with them. With its mandate for whale conservation, the Commission must take these warning signs seriously and put whale protection at the heart of its work. 🙌

Follow our updates from the in Hobart. 🌊

24/09/2026

🐋 In just a few days, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) opens its 70th meeting in Hobart, Tasmania. This year marks two major anniversaries: the founding of the IWC 80 years ago, in 1946, and 40 years ago, in 1986, the global ban on commercial whaling came into force.

Since then, commercial whaling has decreased dramatically: hundreds of thousands of whales have been spared an agonising death by explosive harpoons, and some whale populations have even recovered. 🙌

👉Yet three countries still hunt whales for profit, each with its own way around the ban: Norway rejected the moratorium. Iceland undermines the moratorium. And Japan left the IWC in 2019 and continues the commercial whaling it once claimed was ‘scientific’. The result? despite a global ban, around 1,000 large whales are killed commercially every year.

👉But change is possible: this year's host Australia, a former whaling nation, is now advocating for full implementation of the ban on commercial whaling. Meanwhile Antigua and Barbuda is moving in the opposite direction, challenging the moratorium once again, with indications that Japan still coordinates the pro-whaling positions from behind the scenes.

Commercial whaling must become a thing of the past, once and for all. OceanCare’s expert team will be on the ground to defend the ban and call for greater attention to whale welfare. 🌊

We will keep you updated next week from in Hobart.

20/09/2026

🦭Shy and elusive, the Mediterranean monk seal is one of the rarest marine mammals in the world, and for decades one of the most endangered. But now, there is hope: the species is slowly recovering! 💙

At the beginning of this century, only an estimated 400-600 animals remained. Today there are close to 1,000, and in 2023 the IUCN downlisted the species to Vulnerable, a sign that real protection makes a difference. 🌊

👉Monk seals still need safe places to raise their young. They once used open beaches, until human pressure drove them away. Today, they mostly raise their pups in hidden sea caves. Yet these are dangerous: pups can drown or be washed away during storms. Wherever left undisturbed today, seals are returning to the beaches.

This is why protecting these places matters. Off the Greek island of Formicula, the Ionian Dolphin Project, led by our partner Tethys and supported by OceanCare, established a 200-metre boat exclusion zone. In Cabo Blanco, Mauritania, our partner CBD-Hábitat runs ranger programmes giving seals safe places to raise their young. 🙌

The recovery is encouraging, but many threats remain. That is why our work to protect them will continue. 💙

Dolphin Biology and Conservation Tethys Research Institute Ionian Dolphin Project Fundación CBD-Hábitat

10/09/2026

🩵 OceanCare is honoured that our "Because Our Planet Is Blue" campaign has been recognised with the Media Award 2026 in the category "Excellence in Sustainable Media ". 🎉

👉 The submission was made by our media agency adverserve, who supported OceanCare with strategic media placement in Austria. Together with our creative agency Springer & Jacoby Österreich, who developed the campaign based on OceanCare's 6-point action plan, they ensured that both creatively and in terms of media reach, the campaign generated attention and support in Austria and well beyond. This recognition also belongs to the 114,559 people worldwide who raised their voices for the ocean. 🌊

The campaign mobilised across multiple countries with six demands addressing ocean degradation, from banning offshore oil & gas exploration to stopping plastic pollution and protecting and restoring marine ecosystems. 🌊🐋🪸

This is now our third international recognition, after the VAMP Award and the BoB Award 2025. For OceanCare, this is above all one thing: motivation. Because as much as we welcome this recognition, the real measure of success remains political impact for real ocean protection. Our work continues. 🙌

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https://www.oceancare.org/en/

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