Mundo Azul

The conservation of whales and dolphins has a special importance within marine conservation.

Being long-living, slow producing top predators, whales and dolphins are very sensitive to environmental disturbances and negative human impacts. They are, therefore, perfect indicator species for marine ecosystem health.
Cetaceans play an important role in maintaining ecosystem health and fisheries. Dolphins - like many other high-level predators - are prey mainly on old and ill fish. This way they are playing an important role in fighting infectious diseases among fish populations and ensure the reproduction of fisheries resources. It has been proved in many studies that the elimination of top predators in marine systems has negative, cascading effects for the entire ecosystem. By killing dolphins, we are killing the sanitary police of the oceans, which may result in more diseases and diminished fish populations. To kill a dolphin, therefore, means to directly damage sustainable fisheries.
Whales are the biggest animals that have ever lived on our planet. They are even bigger than dinosaurs had been. Additionally, they have managed to survive 60 million years. They are a real biological gem and it is our duty not to endanger their survival.
(© Stefan Austermühle)

Dolphins are some of the most intelligent species on the planet. They are curious and playful and have impressive communication skills. Dolphins have an elaborate and complicated language, using more than 4,000 whistles to communicate. Each dolphin has a personal whistle used like a name and different groups of dolphins speak different dialects. We don't know any other species in the animal kingdom that have such an elaborate communication system. They are some of the few wild species that make contact and interact with humans out of their own initiative, without harming us. Dolphins enable us to relate to nature in an incomparable way.
Dolphins protect humans. There are dozens of well documented cases where dolphins have rescued castaways and defended them against shark attacks. Killing a dolphin means to kill a friend.
Because of all these reasons, dolphins and whales are an important flagship species for conservation. By reaching their survival, we are, at the same time, protecting their habitat and many other species living there. Dolphins and whales are messengers that remind us of the importance of nature and our own roots in the ocean.
Whales and Dolphins are an important marine resource themselves. Their non-lethal use is a great opportunity for sustainable economic improvement in developing countries like Peru. Tourists all over the world are spending huge amounts of money in order to observe dolphins and whales in their natural surroundings. For example, the Hawaiian Islands are visited each year by around 400,000 tourists who mainly come to the islands in order to see whales and dolphins, thereby contributing to the local economy with around $US 19 million per year. With it's high diversity of whales and dolphins, Peru has a great potential for whale watching as an alternative source of income for local fishermen. Mundo Azul therefore promotes whale watching tourism, involving local fishermen in Peru. The meat of dolphins can be sold only once and for little money. By involving themselves in tourism, fishermen could earn thousands of dollars during the 40 years of the life span of a dolphin. To kill a dolphin means to destroy an important natural resource, to harm the fishermen involved in tourism and to destroy the economical future of our children.
Peru has a special responsibility in whale and dolphin conservation as it is a country harboring a great diversity of whales and dolphins. More than 30 species of whales and dolphins (=37 % of the total number of whales and dolphins) live along our coast and in our rivers.

This is why Mundo Azul puts special emphasis on whale and dolphin conservation and has chosen the dolphin as the representative of Earth's biodiversity in it's logo.

See what Mundo Azul does to protect whales and dolphins.