Stina Nyström
WWF Sweden
Stina Nyström is a programme manager and expert at WWF Sweden, working to protect marine and freshwater cetaceans worldwide.
Stina has a MSc in biology with a special focus in animal ecology and ethology. Her studies in Sweden and at Cornell University, USA, concluded with a master thesis on the social structure of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins off the coast of Zanzibar in 2005 – and this was the start of her love affair with cetaceans.
A species especially close to her heart is the Baltic Harbour Porpoise, one of the world’s smallest and most endangered cetacean populations. At WWF Sweden, she is working together with researchers, local authorities, and other NGOs to secure protection of these animals’ most critical habitats from threats including by-catch and underwater noise.
During the past few years, she has also started working in the fascinating world of freshwater cetaceans, supporting work in Myanmar and Cambodia on protecting the last river populations of the Irrawaddy dolphin.
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.
In the crystal-blue waters of the Caribbean, something remarkable surfaced. When Stacey Mac Donald, a researcher and a Regional Coordinator at the Caribbean Cetacean Society (CCS), received confirmation of a photo-identification match of a spinner dolphin mother and calf first sighted in Martinique in 2021 and then again in Bonaire in 2024—more than 800 kilometers away—the team had a genuine “wow” moment.