Japanese whaling ships began returning from the northwest Pacific Ocean on Sunday, after their first hunt for endangered sei whales in a quarter century.

A marine amusement park in Florida wants the world’s most famous free whale back in captivity. Full Story: http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=3874&section=NEWS

For the first time in more than a century, a northern right whale calf has been sighted in the eastern North Pacific Ocean, which scientists say offers hope that the world’s most endangered cetaceans may yet escape extinction. Full Story: http://www.

Keiko the killer whale, star of the “Free Willy” movies, might never re-adapt to life in the wild after his release from two decades in captivity, the head of the orca’s own foundation said on Thursday. Full Story: http://www.planetark.org/dailynews

There are fears the deadly seal virus that has killed about 1,000 animals around the Wash has spread south to Essex. Full Story

Puffins have bred on Ailsa Craig off the Ayrshire coast for the first time in 50 years. Full Story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2265149.stm

The outbreak of Phocine Distemper Virus has now claimed up to 12,000 animals across NW Europe. In the UK 1,005 animals have been found dead, most cases are from the Norfolk coast.

An 8-foot dwarf sperm whale, which beached earlier this week on Matagorda Island, has died despite rescuers’ attempts to save it by feeding it fluids and giving it antibiotics.

Keiko the whale, star of the Free Willy films, is likely to be looked after in Norway over the winter after an unsuccessful attempt to release him into the wild, his handler has said. Full Story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/2254379

Australian authorities want total preservation of the minke whale and will push to extend the Bonn convention for the protection of migratory animals to cover sperm and Bryde’s whale.