Japan education programme WDCS has supported a number of public education campaigns through local Japanese NGOs (non-governmental organizations), which has included the distribution of information about the mercury and other heavy-metal contamination of whale and dolphin meat. WDCS has visited Taiji and Futo in Japan, to witness and document the annual dolphin drive hunts which commence in September and continue through to April. During these hunts, over 2,000 small whales and dolphins, including pilot whales and Risso’s, striped and bottlenose dolphins, are corralled into small coves where they are subsequently slaughtered for their meat, or taken alive for the international aquarium industry. Working with WDCS, the Elsa Nature Conservancy, a Japanese conservation organization, has developed an educational road show that is traveling throughout Japan to educate and raise awareness amongst students and the general public about dolphins and the threats that they face, including the dolphin drive hunts, whaling and captivity. This educational exhibit will travel to various universities in Tokyo and through the coastal villages where the hunts occur, providing an opportunity to contrast the beautiful images of cetaceans in the wild with images of drive, harpoon and other hunts. WDCS will continue to foster the love and appreciation for cetaceans that can be found within Japan, and hopes to shape that into a public sentiment that T u r n i n g t h e t i d e T u r n i n g t h e t i d e Letter from the Editor Hello and welcome to the first of your new look Turning the Tide newsletter. Our Turning the Tide members are some of our most committed supporters, raising over £100,000 a year to help protect whales and dolphins from the many threats they face. In recognition of your invaluable commitment to the safety and welfare of whales and dolphins, we wanted to make sure that your updates included the very latest from our campaigners and field researchers including comment and photographs from some of our less well known projects. I really hope you enjoy this newsletter, and I’d love to hear your comments and questions, maybe we could feature them in the next issue. Drop me a line on [email protected]. Thank you Sign off ISSUE 1 Summer 2009 www.wdcs.org/tunringthetide We could have an important message in here!
Transcript
Japan education programmeWDCS has supported a number of public education campaigns through local Japanese NGOs (non-governmental organizations), which has included the distribution of information about the mercury and other heavy-metal contamination of whale and dolphin meat.
WDCS has visited Taiji and Futo in Japan, to witness and document the annual dolphin drive hunts which commence in September and continue through to April. During these hunts, over 2,000 small whales and dolphins, including pilot whales and Risso’s, striped and bottlenose dolphins, are corralled into small coves where they are subsequently slaughtered for their meat, or taken alive for the international aquarium industry.
Working with WDCS, the Elsa Nature Conservancy, a Japanese conservation organization, has developed an educational road show that is traveling throughout Japan to educate and raise awareness amongst students and the general public about dolphins and the threats that they face, including the dolphin drive hunts, whaling and captivity. This educational exhibit will travel to various universities in Tokyo and through the coastal villages where the hunts occur, providing an opportunity to contrast the beautiful images of cetaceans in the wild with images of drive, harpoon and other hunts.
WDCS will continue to foster the love and appreciation for cetaceans that can be found within Japan, and hopes to shape that into a public sentiment that
Turning the tideTurning the tide
Letter from the EditorHello and welcome to the first of your new look Turning the Tide newsletter. Our Turning the Tide members are some of our most committed supporters, raising over £100,000 a year to help protect whales and dolphins from the many threats they face. In recognition of your invaluable commitment to the safety and welfare of whales and dolphins, we wanted to make sure that your updates included the very latest from our campaigners and field researchers including comment and photographs from some of our less well known projects. I really hope you enjoy this newsletter, and I’d love to hear your comments and questions, maybe we could feature them in the next issue. Drop me a line on [email protected].
Thank you
Sign off
ISSUE 1 Summer 2009 www.wdcs.org/tunringthetideWe could
have an important message in
here!
UK conservationAlice Pope is the new Scottish Conservation Officer for WDCS. We asked her for the latest update from our Scottish Wildlife Centre.
“We have live underwater sound in the exhibition room at Spey Bay again!
Our sonobuoy was redeployed with the help of its creator, Tim Barton from the University of Aberdeen Lighthouse Field Station. A sonobouy is essentially an underwater sound recorder which is played back through speakers in the Wildlife Centre. The sonobouy lets us listen in to the sounds made by dolphins as they pass nearby. As well as being be both thought provoking and popular with visitors, the sonobouy forms the basis of our acoustic education work and helps visitors learn more about the wonderful dolphins of the Moray Firth.
Now we’re just waiting to hear our first dolphins of 2009…”
Update on International researchEcuador project – non-invasive sampling of humpback whales utilising local whale watch operators to collect the samples.
WDCS funds international researchers in some of the worlds poorest regions. In this update, we look at research in Equador which is using non invasive sampling to study humpback whales.
Location Southeastern BrazilSpecies tucuxiResearcher Prof Dr Marcos Santos – Projeto Atlantis/Instituto de Biologia da Conservação, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Campus Rio Claro.
Research ActivityCan the marine tucuxi dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) population of the Cananéia estuary, Southeastern Brazil, face the advances of progress?
Background The marine tucuxi dolphin, Sotalia guianensis (Ván Benéden, 1864), is one of the
FactfinerScottish fieldwork WDCS is researching whale and dolphin populations of the West coast of Scotland.
Lead researcher Blah blah blah
Location Blah blah blah
Species Blah blah blah
Threats Blah blah blah
Research goals Blah blah blah
Contact info@ for more on this project
Focus on Laura Anti captivity officer
Have you ever seen dolphins in
captivity? Blah blah blah
What made you want to work in this
area? Blah blah blah
What are you working on right now?
Blah blah blah
Is the situation for dolphins in
captivity improving around the
world? Blah blah blah
Is there any advice you can give to
people who want to get involved in
the campaign to stop dolphins being
kept in captivity? Blah blah blah
www.wdcs.org/turningthetide
Old camera equipment appealPlease send us old binoculars, cameras or camera equipment lying around that you no longer use. Please get in touch: [email protected]
