Dolphin populations are totally in danger. We are all knew. Lots of sea problems happening such as the rising temperatures of the seas, increasing levels of fishing activities, pollutants made by the in the oceans, and the existance of the dolphin hunts in some part of the world. This cause has made the dolphin’s number has been decreasing more and more. The situation is getting hopeless. Dolphins are the mammals that very social, emotional, crazily intelligent, and also worth to be protected. There’s a lot of things we can start to protect them. And hereby some of generous yet touching activities that some human has been done to protect this adorable animal.
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General Description
There are more than 40 species dolphins on earth. Some are small, some are big. Some live in the oceans some live in the rivers. Even though the dolphins are living in the water, dolphins are mammals. That means they are warm-blooded, they feed their babies milk, and they must come to the surface of the water to breathe air. Dolphins breathe air through the hole on the top of their head called blowhole. They go underwater, dolphins close the blowhole tight.
You may know that mammals commonly have hair or fur, even though they don’t very hairy, dolphins are no exception. Dolphins are carnivores, using their pointed teeth to catch fish that they swallow whole, they will also eat squid and crustaceans.
Something amazing about dolphins is the way they find their prey: echolocation. Just like some species of bats, dolphins will make special sounds which bounce off of objects around them. When the sound waves return to the dolphins, the shape of the echoes will tell the dolphins what shape and size, as well as how far away or how fast it is moving?
Adult dolphins will grow and reach lengths of up to 4 meters, and weight of up to 650 kilos but average Dolphins will grow up 2.5 meters and 330 kilos.Dolphins can live up to 40 years and may jump out of the water 6 meters. They live in the ocean all around the world, only avoiding the icy waters of the Arctic and Antarctic.
Dolphins live in groups called pods, which usually have somewhere between ten and thirty members. But, dolphin pods have been spotted with more than 1000 dolphins together. Dolphins are really intelligent and have a very special relationship with humans. Sometimes dolphins will help human divers who are injured by pushing them to the surface, which is something that they will also do to other dolphins that injured. Dolphins even sometimes help the fishers to get the fish by driving them towards the fisherman. Once dolphins also protected swimmers from the great white sharks by swimming around them until they get into the shore.
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Here the information about how much efforts from human for make several ways to conserve dolphins and protect them to become endangered, as follows:
1. Conservation of Dolphins in Seaworld
SeaWorld is a conservation and also an entertainment sea park that has been built for more than 4 decades. Year 1964 was the year when SeaWorld was opened in the first time. In another 15years, they later introduced the concept of education and they were legally mandated to do the conservation as well. The park was created as entertainment park in the first place. But, within decades passed SeaWorld finally decide that they want to do some good worthy activities for the world and sea.
SeaWorld later become a marine mammal park, oceanariums, animal theme parks as well as rehabilitations that owned by SeaWorld Entertainment. This park main features will include Killer Whale, Sea Lion, and also Dolphin Shows. Zoological displays with various marine animals also one of the entertainment included inside the park. This park has been exist in some parts in the world but still the biggest park will be in US itself. Seaworld currently exists in Orlando, Florida; San Diego, California, San Antonio; Texas. They also have this conservation in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and previously in Aurora and Ohio.
If you wonder about the park fund. They basically get the main fund from the park visitors. So, if you go to the seaworld and paying members fee you also contributing yourself into the conservation in the wild.
See also: Conservations of the Great Barrier Reef – Endangered Species in the Atlantic Ocean
2. Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC)
WDC or Whale and Dolphin Conservation is one of the wildlife charity which is dedicated for whales, dolphins, and porpoises (cetaceans) conservation for worldwild. Its founding partner is CMS (Convention on Migratory Species, you may know them as Bonn Convention) which is also the part of UN Environment Program. The organization has been exist since 1987 in Chippenham, UK. This orhanization also develops regional protection agreements and conventions and work closely with killer whale research station that located in British Columbia, Canada.
Whale and Dolphin Conservation changed their name in the late of 2012 into Whale and Dolphin Society. Nowadays, this conservation dedicate themselves to protects cetaceans and their living environment. WDC has been operating a lot of different part of the world such as: Germany, Australia, Argentina, Great Britain and The US.
As an organization, they work in three main campaign:
1. Stop Whaling
Within this activities, they concern to research on the whale killer. As we know that the whales numbers are keep decreasing. They are slow to reproduce. Statistically, the research has been found that the whale numbers keep decreasing. And the whale hunting takes a major impact into their populations. Three million whales are the estimated numbers that were killed in the twentieth century.
Whaling is cruel and dangerous. Trade the Whales products is forbidden. But yet in some countries such as Norway and Japan. Whale products become the most profitable products and they keep whaling.
As the conservation organization, they explain how cruel it is to to kill the whale in the inhuman way. Many of them were killed and die slowly. This issue they have been highlighted and become their concern to keep the whale exist.
See also: Endangered Dolphin Species – Threats to Sea Turtles
2. End Captivity
This campaign mainly focuses on the dolphins. This campaign mainly discuss about some entertainment park that keeping the whales and the dolphins in tanks. As a traveling marine animals, they supposed to travel up to one hundred miles a day. Both of the animals are highly intelligent and live in complex societies.
WDC Highlighted that as human they were not supposed to live in a tank. They supposed to live in the sea where they can travel and eat diet they got from the sea. They are not supposed to be taken out from thei homes and family and become a human entertainment icon. Currently, the numbers of whales and dolphins which living in the Aquaria, zoo and marine parks global counted more than 3000 species. If this activities supported by the people, they dream to create a happier future for the animal itself.
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3. End Bycatch
End the bycatch purposely to make people realize how important it is to not fish the protected animals. For them, this fishing activity should be stopped as soon as possible. They believe that when the whales and dolphins are getting trap in the fishing gear are the most horrific way to die and when they can’t struggle anymore they close their blowhole and suffocate.
Those who do escape can live short and painful lives, dying as a result of their injuries. Bycatch has pushed entire species, such as the vaquita, Maui dolphin, and the North Atlantic right whale, to the brink of extinction.
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3. NOAA Fisheries Service
NOAA is the National Marine Fisheries service from United States Federal Agency. They are dedicated mainly to protect living marine resources through scientific research, management, law and conservation. Their main purpose is to manage the national marine resources.
They have 5 regional offices, up to 20 laboratories around the US and six science centers. Their work mainly to confirm the productivity and sustainability of fisheries and community of fishing through science-based decision-making and another one is to recover the protected animals such as whales, turtles, dolphins and salmons. If WDC mainly have 3, they have 8 main campaign focus:
1. Sustainable Fisheries
Sustainable fisheries is basically a campaign to prevents people overfishing and rebuild fish stocks. They expect that within this campaign they may help strengthen the value of fisheries in the economy, marine living ecosystem, and communities. Also to provide a long-term supply of seafood for the nations. They supports national domestic policy issues, provides support to the regional fishery management councils, manage atlantic highly migratory species, and works with some partners to ensure the process of selling chain in US. They work closely with the NOAA Fisheries regional offices and their science centers to make a sustainable management for fishery.
2. Protected Resources
NOAA’s Office of Protected Resources mainly to conserve, protect, and recover species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) in conjunction with our Regional Offices, Science Centers, and various partners. Their purpose in this campaign they want to make sure that they have a long-term impact to the marine living environment.
3. Habitat Conservation
In this campaign they focus in three different campaign:
- Protection.
- Restoration.
- The Chesapeake Bay.
4. Science and Technology
The Office of Science and Technology is part of the National Marine Fisheries Service known as “NOAA Fiesheries. The Office advocates and make sure the sound scientific basis for NOAA Fisheries science programs and resource conservation and management decisions.
5. International Affairs
International Affairs basically a campaign from NOAA Fisheries to promote and strengthen international cooperation to achieve effective sustainable fisheries management globally. They realize that it is possible for them to manage and protect the ocean and marine live by theirself. That is why, they believe with cooperation, they can achieve their mission and vision to make a sustainable marine environment.
6. Law Enforcement
Law Enforcement will focus to tackle seafood fraud nationally and taking a serious action to crack down the illegal fishing internationally. NOAA Fisheries want to ensures that people need to obey the rules and play a fair competition in the market. They aim to protect marine resources and environment.
7. Aquaculture
This campaign may be not really well known in some areas. This campaign aims to invite people to do fish or shellfish farming. It means to do breeding, rearing, and harvesting of plants and animals in all types of water environments including ponds, rivers, lakes, and the ocean. They expect that the researchers could do the “farming” in all kinds of marine species of fish, shellfish and plants. And for the Aquaculture they expect them to produce the food fish, sport fish, bait fish, ornamental fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae, sea vegetables, and fish eggs.
8. Seafood inspection
The NOAA Seafood Inspection mainly offers a various professional inspection service inspection services to fulfill the applicable food regulations. The program will offer you sanitation, process and system as well. They also will provide an evaluating, grading, and certification services on a products.
See also: Smallest Dolphins in The World – Threats to Sea Turtles
4. Cambodian Mekong Dolphin Conservation Project
You may ever heard about this projects before. This project is a collaborative project between WWF and Cambodian Rural Development Team and the Fisheries Administration that aims to conserve and protect the Mekong Dolphin’s using the goverment’s Ca,bodian Mekong Dolphin Conservation Strategy.
As a protected species, Mekong Dolphins needs an unpolluted habitat, sufficient water to move and enough food supply. This factors can be achieved if they have a healthy river ecosystem. The main aims of this project is to maintain the population numbers of dolphins in Mekong river and protect the environment health of river. To achieve the purpose according to their website, Mekong Dolphins Conservation project works in four differen keys area:
1. Threat Reduction
They work to develop the regulations and a dolphin living environment using the system that connected with the Government to preserve and protect the dolphins and their core living environment.
- A well management of dolphin-watching eco-tourism (entertainment field).
- Having a cooperation with the communities and NGOs to maintain the sustainable management of local fisheries and the dolphin conservation within their activities.
- Provide an alternative sources for fishing communities that using the dolphin habitats with a partnership the the Cambodian Rural Development Team.
2. Education and awareness
- Making sure all the stakeholders aware of the regulations that related to the dolphin conservation.
- Develop educational signboards and material for tourists and Cambodian public of how important it is to protect dolphin’s habitat.
- Deliver educational village workshops and school visits that nearby to the core dolphin habitats.
- Build the awareness of the monk about the environmental education.
3. Research focusing on
- The Dolphin Mortality numbers.
- Dolphins population and distribution.
- The impacts of Dolphin eco-tourism.
- To Assess of dolphin’s population viability.
- Monitoring the number of Dolphin’s threats.
4. Co-operation and regional coordination
- Build cross border cooperation between stakeholders at the trans-boundary dolphin pool and develop a trans-boundary pool conservation strategy.
- Establish a community trans-boundary pool conservation group.
- Improve fisheries management and community enforcement at the trans-boundary pool.
- Build a community for tran-boundary pool conservation group.
- Improve the community and fisheries management.
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Volunteer with Dolphin Research in the Ionian Sea in Greece
This research is the most youth-theme research that being done by some dolphins lover or volunteer that eagerly want to have experience. This project requires you to be one of the marine conservation volunteers. You will participate in the dolphin research in Ionian Sea, Greece. The aim of this project is to help the marine environment have the long-term viability for the species. But, the research will only focus on the Bottlenose Dolphin and the Short-Beaked Common Dolphin, in the Amvrakikos Gulf and inner Ionian Sea Archipelago.
In this chance will take the volunteers to take part n Bottlenose and Short-Beaked Common Dolphins research in the Ionian Sea. As the volunteers, you are required to do:
- Monitor and doing research in the area using a particular surveying techniques.
- Identify Dolphin’s photo this activity will teach you to understand about the local dolphins population and their diversity.
- Take a note and record the dolphins behavior and their size, if you wanna know the differences of the interaction between the groups, they will have a special software called GIS.
- Collect the data related to the marine species such as tuna, swordfish, seabirds, sea turtle, maybe also whale.
- Investigate the dead dolphins you need to make a research regarding the death cause, also to collect the genetic and biological data that may help you improve your investigation.
- Observe on how local dolphins react with the local fisheries and how their interaction can bring positive impacts to the marine environment.
I assume some of you maybe very interesting to take part in this project. And we will give you more information about this project. Click https://www.workingabroad.com/projects/dolphin-research-volunteer-project-greece
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Well, as we know that the population of the dolphins are keep decreasing. Sadly, the fact has been said in a couple of decades they probably extinct. Can you imagine if our grandchildren ask what is Dolphin? How big are they? That is terrible. So, we hope that if this post can give you learning on hope important it is to keep the world peace and balance. We need home, so do the dolphins. Take some actions.