A new report launched today ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum is calling for coordinated action to protect the ocean migration routes that connect whales, dolphins and communities across the Pacific. 

Western Pacific Blue Corridors uses satellite tracking and other data of whale movement with local cultural knowledge and stewardship to show how migration routes and critical habitats increasingly overlap with threats such as fishing, shipping, underwater noise, pollution, under-regulated tourism and a changing climate.  

BlueCorridors.org has won a 2026 Webby Award in the Best Data Visualization category, recognising a global collaboration in bringing whale migration, growing ocean risks and conservation solutions to life online.

WWF is working with scientists and local fishing communities, such as in Peru and Indonesia, to trial new ways to reduce bycatch by attaching objects to gillnets. The general idea is to make the gillnets visible, highlighting them on a dolphin’s underwater map as it navigates the sea. 

The Western Pacific Blue Corridors Forum, a three-day regional gathering from Feb 23-25, 2026, will bring together experts from the WWF, IWC and SPREP including indigenous and community leaders, fisheries organisations, government representatives and conservation practitioners to develop recommendations for national governments to advance whale conservation across the region.