Melanie Lancaster PhD
Senior Specialist, WWF Arctic Programme
Melanie Lancaster is Senior Specialist, Arctic species, for WWF’s Arctic Programme and a member of the leadership team of the Protecting Whales & Dolphins Initiative.
Melanie is a conservation biologist and since attaining her PhD, she has worked for a decade and a half on research and management of the multitude of threats facing wildlife and habitats. Her work has taken her to the ends of the earth - from the Antarctic to the Arctic.
Melanie works with WWF offices around the Arctic to implement conservation of Arctic species, including polar bears, walrus, beluga and bowhead whales, narwhals and caribou/reindeer. She is particularly engaged in ensuring these species have the conditions they need to adapt to rapid changes taking place in the Arctic. This includes protecting and connecting their important habitats and safeguarding them from impacts of increased industrial activity such as shipping and associated underwater noise.
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.
Have you heard of the ‘Blue Amazon’? Brazil’s massive coastline is a hotspot for marine life and, each year, whales travel thousands of kilometres to breed in its warm, nutrient-rich waters. A UN conference this month offers a key opportunity to strengthen protections for these whales and other migratory species.
WWF objects to MSC certification of Antarctic krill fishery and urges establishment of network of Marine Protected Area in Southern Ocean. Concentrated fishing is putting wildlife that rely on krill, such as humpback whales, at risk.
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.
This year marks 40 years since the world united to enforce a global moratorium on commercial whaling and give giants like North Atlantic right whales a chance to recover. Here’s what we’ve learned since then – and the work that still lies before us.
When Nations Unite, Whales Benefit: The Promise of the High Seas Treaty
A new global agreement to safeguard marine life in two-thirds of the planet's ocean is a lifeline for whales, but the next few years will be crucial.
As the third UN Ocean Conference draws to a close, WWF is encouraged by the commitments made in a number of areas, but warns that the measure of success will be in delivery.
In a major advance for marine conservation, WWF and a global coalition of leading scientists, civil society, governments, and tech innovators have launched BlueCorridors.org—a dynamic new platform that brings together three decades of whale tracking data with information on overlapping marine threats and conservation solutions. For the first time, the migratory “blue corridors” used by great whales are now digitally mapped and made publicly accessible to inform science, policy, and ocean protection efforts worldwide.