Why today is World Dolphin DayMany big marine animals now have their own annual international “awareness days”, and eco-activists Sea Shepherd have decided that dolphins deserve their own, although their nominated day is more cause for a wake than a celebration. World Dolphin Day marks the one-year anniversary of the biggest single slaughter of cetaceans in recorded history, says the organisation, which has coined today, 12 September, both in memory of the 1,428 dolphins killed by Faroe Islanders on that day, and as a reminder that dolphins around the world need more protection. A year ago Sea Shepherd captured footage of the mass slaughter of Atlantic white-sided dolphins in the Faroe Islands. World Dolphin Day is an opportunity to raise the alarm, says Sea Shepherd, citing reports of dolphins and other small cetaceans being killed around the world every year, whether hunted for “tradition”; held in captivity for entertainment, as recently reported on by Divernet in Malta; or suffocating in fishing-nets as bycatch. “Through World Dolphin Day, we can raise awareness and encourage more people to speak out against the slaughters,” says Sea Shepherd.