8th Meeting of the Parties to the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans in the Baltic/ North East Atlantic/ Irish/ North Seas

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For the 500 Harbour porpoises remaining in the Baltic Sea, life is fraught with peril. Every day, these endearing cetaceans face the deadly threat of getting entangled in fishing nets and suffocating. They have to endure chemical and dangerous noise pollution, survive on a shrinking fish supply and even dodge submerged explosives left behind by the two world wars.

The decimated Baltic population of porpoises is not the only one affected. Other cetaceans, including Common, Bottlenose and Atlantic White-Sided Dolphins, Orcas and Pilot Whales all face the same dangers caused by human activities.

But change is afoot. Parties to the Agreement for the Conservation of Small Cetaceans in the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas are meeting in Helsinki next week to pass a raft of measures that could drastically improve the status of European cetaceans and make the Baltic Sea a safe haven for Harbour Porpoises.

The meeting is expected to adopt ambitious resolutions to address the most urgent threats facing European marine mammals, including bycatch, ocean energy, anthropogenic noise, polychlorinated biphenyls and underwater munitions.

Please find more information on the 8th meeting of the Parties here.