Press Release

DFDS continues to honour its commitments and to play an active role with animal protection associations, at sea during crossings, but also on land when the ferries depart, thanks to its two local partners.

The Port of Calais' commitment to the Ligue des Animaux du Calaisis

The transport of pets by sea is on the rise throughout the DFDS network. In 2019, nearly 12,000 animals travelled with their owners on the Calais-Dover route. While in most cases the check-in process for our faithful companions goes smoothly, forgetting or not respecting the mandatory sanitary conditions for travel sometimes prevents them from boarding. And in the most unreal scenarios, owners prefer to abandon the animal rather than not board.

To put an end to these practices, the DFDS team in Calais has set up a protocol to avoid losing track of animals in immediate danger. If a passenger is unable to board with their animal they can choose to lose legal responsibility for it. DFDS then calls on the Ligue de Protection des Animaux du Calaisis, which then takes final responsibility for the animal until it is adopted.

This partnership with the Ligue de Protection des Animaux was signed in June 2019 and has since been proudly supported by DFDS, which is now working to extend this partnership with other local animal protection agencies, notably in Dunkirk and Dieppe.

Support for marine data collection with the ORCA association

Through its passenger wildlife viewing activity, DFDS has contributed to the collection of essential data for the latest report from ORCA, a charity dedicated to the conservation and protection of marine animals (whales, dolphins and porpoises) in UK and European waters.

This activity is made possible by an army of volunteer passengers, led by ORCA-trained wildlife officers, who monitor the sea from the decks of the Seven Sisters and the Côte d'Albâtre sailing on the Dieppe-Newhaven line in the English Channel.

This information is then processed by ORCA volunteers and included in ORCA's 'State of Europe's Cetaceans' report. In the latest version of this report, ORCA recorded 4,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises (known as 'cetaceans') seen from the UK ferry network. Over five years, ORCA wildlife officers recorded 79 764 animals, including 75 544 cetaceans. Twenty species of cetaceans were identified.

ORCA's marine monitoring programme relies on its network of volunteer marine mammal experts. Volunteers are trained to become marine mammal experts and join the survey teams on board the ferry network. This enables people from all walks of life to play an active role in marine science and conservation.

Passengers wishing to enjoy free wildlife viewing and experiences will be able to do so from 6 May (on a limited number of sailings) on the Côte d'Albâtre and the Seven Sisters, on the Dieppe-Newhaven route.

DFDS and ORCA have been working together for 14 years now: first on the King Seaways, a ferry between Amsterdam and Newcastle, and for the last few years on the Dieppe-Newhaven route.