Pro and anti-whaling nations locked horns on Monday as the International Whaling Commission (IWC) began meeting in Brazil amid outrage over Japan's proposal to end a three-decade moratorium on commercial whale hunting.
Environmentalists in Brazil say they are trying to figure out why more than 80 gray dolphins have died in less than a month on the coast of Rio de Janeiro state. A statement from the Gray Dolphin Institute says the dolphins died over past 17 days in the Bay of Sepetiba, a coastal district about 70 kilometers west of Rio de Janeiro. The institute is an NGO that monitors and strives to protect the dolphins.