Dominica passes law for sperm whale reserve; carbon claim has no credit scheme
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Dominica set up a sperm whale reserve whose law does not tie it to carbon credits. Scientists have disputed the carbon estimates behind the whale-credit idea, and the sources reviewed show no whale carbon credit sold.
- Whale Seeker — Montreal company that announced the Whale Carbon Plus project in June 2022, aiming to sell verified carbon and biodiversity credits within two years
- Baffinland — Named as a partner in the Whale Carbon Plus project; operates the Mary River iron mine in northern Canada
- Narwhal near Eclipse Sound, Nunavut — Count fell from 9,931 in 2019 to 5,019 in 2020, according to Baffinland's own consultant; Pond Inlet hunters linked the decline to the mine, and the company cited other possible causes
What happened
National Geographic reported that Dominica had established the world's first sperm whale reserve in 2023, a move it described as a boost for climate, biodiversity and the local economy.
The claim that the reserve would store 4,200 tonnes of carbon a year, equal to 5,000 cars, was extrapolated from another area, according to the sources reviewed.
Dominica's government reported that in October 2025 parliament approved the bill; the law contains no carbon credit mechanism, and the reserve is to be funded by penalties and donations.
Scientists wrote in December 2022 that whale carbon was not measurable enough for a credit market, while a 2010 study estimated that recovering whale populations could store about 160,000 tonnes of carbon a year.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: a campaign group's claim that 41 countries back whale offset credits; the sources link it probably to a 2018 International Whaling Commission decision that is not about credits.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: a campaign group's claim that a Disney+ documentary was part of a whale-credit campaign.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: a campaign group's link between Kenyan Ogiek evictions in November 2023 and carbon agreements; no direct link is established in the sources.
- Unclear Not stated: whether any whale carbon credit has been issued, sold or bought; the sources reviewed show none as of October 2026, and the 2022 project's later status is unknown.
- Disputed Not stated: whether Blue Green Future is the same company as Blue Green World; its founders are named differently across sources.
- None on record Not stated: the reserve area in the 2025 law; sources give 788, 923 or 1,231 km2.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Dominica establishes world's first sperm whale reserveNational Geographic Society · 2023-11-13
- Dominica Parliament approves historic bill to establish world's first sperm whale reserveGovernment of Dominica (Prime Minister's Office) · 2025-10-14
Connected cases
- IMF whale-value paper and Baffinland narwhal pilot Canada · 2019–2026
- Whale Seeker (Company) — here: Montreal company that announced the Whale Carbon Plus project in June 2022; there: AI whale-detection company; announced the pilot
- Baffinland Iron Mines (Company) — here: Named partner in the whale carbon project; operates the Mary River mine; there: Mine operator; pilot partner supplying aerial images
- Blue Green Future (Company) — here: Company linked to the whale carbon proposal; founders named inconsistently in sources; there: Company through which the project is run