On September 13 at its biennial meeting in Brazil, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) passed a declaration to safeguard marine mammals in perpetuity. The non-binding Florianopolis Declaration, which was proposed by Brazil and no longer recognizes whaling as a necessary economic activity, was supported by 40 countries and rejected by 27 pro-whaling states. The 89 member countries of the IWC also voted to renew quotas for limited hunts for indigenous communities in Alaska, Russia, Greenland, and the Caribbean on account of their cultural and subsistence needs. For the full story, see https://www.afp.com/en/news/205/iwc-passes-brazil-project-protect-whale….