| Many species of dolphin and whales are like people – they like to travel between colder and warmer places at different times of the year. For example, these marine mammals often migrate to colder waters to find food and prefer to give birth in warmer areas. The migration can be over thousands of miles through the oceans and it can cause unique problems for countries and institutions that work to protect these animals as they move through different areas of the world.
With the conservation and protection of marine life as our driving concern, the Alliance and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, or CMS, signed an agreement in 2008 that establishes a strong, collaborative relationship designed to help protect dolphins and whales as they migrate.
A part of the United Nations, CMS understands the importance of international cooperation on issues of conservation and this agreement provides for the Alliance and its members to communicate and cooperate with CMS on programs aimed at keeping dolphins and whales safe across the globe.
CMS works with countries around the world to establish international agreements and legal frameworks to promote conservational efforts all along the paths of these animals’ migratory patterns. Many species of aquatic marine mammals, including dolphins and whales, appear on the Appendices of the Convention and are a crucial focus of the work of CMS.
Whales in Danger
While the International Whaling Commission (IWC) - http://www.iwcoffice.org/ - aims to assure that large whale species, like blue whales, survive into the future and have placed a moratorium on commercial whaling, CMS is the foremost advocate for the conservation of small cetaceans.
The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the CMS decision-making body. It meets every three years to review its activities, resolutions and recommendations, and decide on priorities for future CMS activities.
Whales and dolphins face many hazards, including loss of habitat, pollution, ship strikes and deadly entanglement in fishing nets. Humans can cause other risks by thoughtlessly dumping debris in our waters or feeding or swimming near dolphins and whales in the wild.
To help people better understand how they can help, the CMS and the Alliance offer several references for the public:
Educators at Alliance member parks and aquariums teach an array of ocean messages that help everyone learn how they can protect the oceans and the animals that live in them. (www.ammpa.org/doc_literacy.html)
The Importance of Conservation
Both the Alliance and CMS support field research, which is necessary to better understand cetacean behaviors, population health, ecological relationships and the impact of environmental contaminants. Alliance members have invested millions of dollars on studies that provide scientists with essential data on whales and dolphins, and CMS fosters cooperative research throughout the world.
Examples of important Alliance member-supported research include:
- 30+ years of long-term study of dolphins in Florida waters
- Data collected on endangered monk seals that helps guide efforts to help prevent extinction
- Conservation studies tracking highly endangered river dolphins and other marine life in Asia
- Studies of Beluga whales in Canada imperiled by pollution
- Comparison studies of marine mammal immune systems vs. stranded animals to improving diagnoses for animals that strand on beaches
- Research on the ecology and biology of rough-toothed dolphins
- Tracking the patterns of killer whales off the coasts of Canada and Norway
- Energy and nutritional needs of endangered Stellar sea lions.
Scientific research and public awareness are critical to helping protecting these vulnerable animals, for which we care deeply. Working together -- as the Alliance and CMS are pledged to do -- we can all make a positive difference in the future of whales and dolphins and other marine mammals.
To learn more about marine mammal conservation, visit an Alliance member facility today.
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