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The Oceania Project - Caring for Whales, Dolphins and the Oceans

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Organisations Dedicated to the
Conservation and Protection of Cetacea

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  • Dr.John C Lilly
    The Columbus of Consciousness; Elder of Whale & Dolphin Global Consciousness and First Ambassador to the Cetacean Nation.

    Arrived: January 6th, 1915 - Returned: September 30th, 2001.

    Sometime before he returned to the Great Cycle John spoke of a time when all killing of whales and dolphins would cease, "not from a law being passed, but from each human understanding innately, that these are ancient, sentient earth residents with tremendous intelligence and enormous life force. Not someone to kill, but someone to learn from".

    Dr John Lilly conceived and passionately advocated the recognition of the rights of the Ceatcean Nation in Human Culture and Law.

  • Cetacean Conservation - Progressing the rights of wild populations of animals
    Cetacean Conservation's Dr Margi Prideaux believes that future conservation efforts must acknowledge and progress the intrinsic rights of wild animal populations to be free from interference and have perpetual security for their critical habitats.

    The Helsinki Group was formed out of the Cetacean Rights: Fostering Moral and Legal Change Conference held in Helsinki, Finland in May 2010. The Helsinki Group are 8 of the 11 founding signatories to the Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans: Whales and Dolphinsand now form the Steering Committee guiding the Declaration forward. Individuals are invited to sign onto the declaration NOW!
  • OrcaLab
    In 1970, Dr. Paul Spong founded OrcaLab, a small land based whale research station nestled against the evergreen forest of Hanson Island in the waters of the "Inside Passage" of northern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

    The work of OrcaLab is centered around the philosophy that it is possible to study wild animals without interfering with their lives or habitat.

    The OrcaLab's work also includes vital conservation issues - preservation of orca habitat; release and rehabilitation of captive cetaceans,especially Corky; and bringing to an end the dismal era of commercial whaling.

  • Australian Whale Conservation Society (AWCS)
    is dedicated to Cetacean conservation, education and research. Commercial whaling continues, much of it under the pretext of scientific whaling. Cetaceans today face many of the other problems they did in the past, such as entanglement and habitat degradation. There are new threats in the form of climate change and inappropriate human activity around whales.

    Paul Hodda, Chairman of AWCS says, "The work of AWCS is at the grass-roots level, attending to issues that might otherwise remain under the radar. The focus is still as it was three decades ago when AWCS was first established - creating public awareness and understanding of whale conservation issues and engaging with government and organisations to bring about lasting change".
  • I.C.E.R.C. (International Cetacean Education & Research Centre Japan)
    undertake a range of activities in support of awareness of Cetacea in Japan.

    ICERC Japan directly supports Cetacean Research through its Dolphin, Whale & Human Fund sponsored by Casio's G-SHOCK and Baby-G wristwatch products (Casio Computer Co., Ltd.).
  • Richard Roshon
    "Man, Kayak and the Whale" is a human-interest program emphasizing the fragility of not only the whale, but also all life, seen from the eyes of the kayak.
  • Erich Hoyt
    has spent most of his life working with whales and dolphins and other ocean creatures in more than 40 countries. Erich has written a number of books about Whales & Dolphins and has produced a range of important reports, particularly about Whale Watching.
  • Dr Roger Payne/Ocean Alliance
    is a 501(c)3 organization founded in 1971 by Roger Payne. Dr. Payne has conducted research on whales in all the oceans of the world, and has been an eloquent spokesman for their welfare for over three decades. In the early 1970s, he was among the first to sound the alarm about the threat of worldwide pollution of the oceans that most people are only now learning about. In the January 1979 issue of National Geographic, Dr. Payne said, ŇPollution has replaced the harpoon as a mortal threat to whales, and in its way can be far more deadly."

  • The American Cetacean Society (ACS)
    The American Cetacean Society (ACS) is the oldest whale conservation group in the world. Founded in 1967, it is a non-profit, volunteer membership organization with regional U.S. chapters and members in 41 countries. Some ACS Chapters offer grants to support cetacean research by biologists and graduate students.
    ACS seeks to educate through its publications and the development of teaching aids. ACS reports on cetacean research in its journal, Whalewatcher.

  • Cetacean Society International
    is an all volunteer, non-profit, tax-exempt conservation, education, and research organisation based in the USA, with volunteer representatives in 26 countries around the world. CSI is dedicated to the preservation and protection of all cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) and the marine environment on a global basis.

  • Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS), UK.
    is dedicated to the conservation and welfare of all whales, dolphins and porpoises (Cetaceans). Every year WDCS carries out vital campaigning and conservation work to save and protect cetaceans around the world

  • Organisation Cetacea (ORCA), UK
    promotes the conservation of the marine environment through research, partnership and education and provides a forum for the enjoyment of whales, dolphins, seabirds and other marine life.

    Founded in August 2000 Organisation Cetacea (ORCA) seeks to provide a forum for raising interest and participation in conservation research by creating a network ccessible to all interest groups and which provides a focus for enjoying and learning about cetaceans.

  • The Sea Watch Foundation
    aims to achieve better conservation of whales and dolphins in the seas around Britain and Ireland by involving the public in scientific monitoring of populations and the threats they face, and by the regular production of material to educate, inform and lobby for better environmental protection..

  • The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
    is on the front lines, defending the world's marine mammals with direct and decisive action.

  • Campaign Whale
    aims to stop commercial whaling and protect all whales, dolphins & their habitats.

  • The Whaleman Foundation (Whaleman)
    is a public IRS 501 (c) (3) non-profit oceanic research, education, production, and conservation organization dedicated to preserving and protecting dolphins, whales, porpoises, and their habitats. Whaleman's primary mission is to raise public awareness while educating key decision-makers on the issues that effect cetaceans and their critical habitats. We are accomplishing this by taking our team into the field and producing films and articles about these issues while fostering international cooperation with other like-minded organizations. .

  • The European Cetacean Society (ECS)
    The European Cetacean Society (ECS) is a 500+ member organization. It is aimed at the exchange of informationbetween dolphin and whale researchers inside and outside Europe. The ECS is therefore basically a scientific organization, but many members are just interested in whales and dolphins without being professional biologists. We count more than 40 countries in our membership including members from the USA, Hong Kong, Argentina, Tunisia and Japan, to name just a few from outside Europe.

    There is a special section of the website for Students.

    The ECS convenes once a year in a European country. The ECS Annual Conference includes several days of speakers, discussion and special interest groups, posters and displays, movies and demonstrations and the state of the art technology in whale and dolphin research.
  • EUROPHLUKES
    a European Network to develop a European Cetacean Photo-ID System and Database.
    EUROPHLUKES will be a large database of photos of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises). Cetaceans are extremely difficult to study in their natural environment. Photo-identification is a technique to recognise individual animals from photographs. It is very effective for providing much of the information needed for managing cetacean populations as a part of a sustainable marine ecosystem.

  • The Tethys Research Institute
    The Tethys Research Institute, founded in 1986, is a non-profit NGO dedicated to the preservation of the marine environment. It focuses on marine animals and particularly on cetaceans inhabiting the Mediterranean Sea, and aims at protecting its biodiversity by promoting the adoption of a precautionary approach for the management of natural resources.

  • The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies
    was co-founded by Dr. Charles (Stormy) Mayo and is a private, non-profit organization. Its mission is to conduct scientific research with emphasis on marine mammals of the western North Atlantic and on the coastal and marine habitats and resources of the Gulf of Maine; To promote stewardship of coastal and marine ecosystems; and To conduct educational activities and to provide educational resources that encourage the responsible use and conservation of coastal and marine ecosystems.

  • Mingan Island Cetacean Study (MICS)
    is a non-profit research organization dedicated to ecological studies of marine mammals. Founded in 1979 by Richard Sears, MICS was the first organization to carry out extensive long-term research of cetaceans in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

  • Operation Cetaces
    is a New Caledonia Marine Mammal Research Organisation founded by Dr Claire Garrigue. they have been conducting a long term study of Humpback whales in New Caledonia since 1993 and since 1995, they also spend 2 to 3 months every year observing and photographing the whales in the South of Grande Terre (New Caledonia, main island). Operation Cetaces is affiliated with the South Pacific Whale Research Consortium. Dr Garrigue was a founding member of the Consortium.

  • The Center for Cetacean Research & Conservation (CCRC) Cook Islands
    is a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization founded to conserve cetaceans and the ecosystems they inhabit. Founded by Nana Hauser its mission is to conduct benign research on the biology of cetaceans and to raise awareness of marine conservation issues, especially those concerning cetaceans, by: providing curriculum enrichment and community outreach programs; Publishing scientific findings in both professional and popular formats through various media; Offering practical experiences for interns and volunteers and Producing educational films for television. CCRC is an affiliate and founding member of the South Pacific Whale Research Consortium and Nan Hauser is a PhD Candiate at the Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre.

  • Sons de Mar
    is Catalan for 'sounds of the sea' and is an initiative of the Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics (LAB) of the Technical University of Catalonia, to present, explain and promote the research conducted on the effects of artificial noise on the marine environment.

    The site offers information about the acoustic processes in cetaceans, enables visitors to listen to natural, biological and anthropogenic sound sources that are nowadays co-existing in the oceans.

  • Megaptera.org
    studies East African Humpback whales in Madagascar.

    for those who speak French: est une association franaise dŽdiŽe ˆ l'observation, la connaissance et la protection des mammifres marins, du dugong et du requin baleine. C'est suite ˆ la prise de conscience de la richesse, de la spŽcificitŽ , mais aussi du manque d'indicateurs relatifs ˆ ces populations de cŽtacŽs de la rŽgion OcŽan Indien que fut ŽlaborŽe la dŽmarche MEGAPTERA, dont les ma”tres mots sont : RECHERCHE, EDUCATION, et CONSERVATION DURABLE.

  • The Ocean Mammal Institute (OMI)
    is unique as a research organization rhat collects data on the impact of human marine activities on whales and dolphins. The research results are used to develop guidelines to protect these marine mammals. OMI is unique because they use rheir scientific data to directly protect whales and dolphins.
  • The Centre for Dolphin Studies(CDS)
    The Centre for Dolphin Studies(CDS) officially launched in 1990, evolved from the need to expand our knowledge of Western Indian Ocean, and in particular southern African, coastal and pelagic marine mammals, in light of the continued and increasing degradation of our environment. Through a network of scientists and post-graduate students, the more than 30 research programmes undertaken by the CDS have contributed in excess of 145 publications to the scientific and popular literature
  • Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute (BDRI)
    engages people worldwide in scientific projects to participate as students, volunteers in hands-on research with wild bottlenose dolphins in Sardinia, Italy.
  • The Whale and Dolphin Adoption Project
    is a New Zealand based non-profit charitable trust whose aim is to raise funds for ongoing marine mammal research, education and conservation of the marine environment.. The project works with like-minded organisations to ensure maximum benefit for our marine environment, and public participation is sought by offering an opportunity to adopt a marine mammal.

  • The Pacific Cetacean Group.
    is an independent California based organization dedicated to increasing our knowledge of marine mammals and promoting the conservation of their marine habitats through scientific research and education. Their primary goal is to offer people a unique opportunity to study marine mammals and marine ecology by participating in ongoing research programs.

  • International Marine Mammal Association.
    The International Marine Mammal Association Inc. (IMMA) is a not-for-profit organization, founded in New Brunswick, Canada in 1974. Since then, IMMA has been dedicated to the conservation of marine mammals and their habitats worldwide. Concern over the exploitation of marine mammals, the degradation of marine ecosystems and the need for marine protected and conservation areas were priorities when the organization was first formed.

  • The Whale Center of New England (WCNE)
    was founded in 1980 to study the whales using waters off the Massachusetts coast, especially Stellwagen Bank and Jeffreys Ledge. A pre-eminent research institution, its nearly 20 years of field-based studies, utilizing individual identification markings for detailed behavioral studies are the basis for many published scientific articles by the Whale Center's staff and interns, the development of educational materials, and involvement in conservation efforts involving marine animals and their habitat.

  • The Marine Connection
    are a ground-breaking UK based marine life charity. Linking people around the world, working together to stop suffering and save the lives of dolphins and whales, and protect their fragile habitat.

  • The Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society (HKDCS)
    is dedicated to the conservation of Hong KongŐs whales, dolphins and porpoises. We are committed to conserving cetaceans residing in Hong Kong and neighbouring waters through scientific research and education.

  • The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG)
    is dedicated to the conservation and better understanding of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoise) in Irish waters. The Group was founded in 1990 to establish an Irish stranding and sighting scheme and to campaign for the declaration of Irish territorial waters as a whale and dolphin sanctuary.

  • Richard O'Barry - The Dolphin Project
    The Dolphin Project was established on Earth Day 1970 and is dedicated to abolishing the billion-dollar dolphin slave trade. It is their belief that neither entertainment, so-called education, research, nor dolphin-assisted-therapy can justify the capture and confinement of these highly complex, intelligent, and social marine mammals. .

  • International Dolphin Watch (IDW)
    International Dolphin Watch, founded by Dr Horace Dobbs, is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the study and care of dolphins, especially their relationship with humans and the protection the marine environment for the benefit of the dolphins.

  • The Atlantic Whale Foundation
    has carried out intensive research into the pilot whale and bolttlenose dolphin communities resident off the SW coast of Tenerife in the Canaries over a period of seven years and has built a database of migrating species sighted over the last five years.

  • Orca Network
    is dedicated to raising awareness about the whales of the Pacific Northwest, and the importance of providing them healthy and safe habitats. A community is emerging that is increasingly attuned to the orca population, that cares about and tries to understand the needs of the resident and transient orcas that inhabit the Salish Sea.

  • Interspecies Communication Inc. (IC)
    is unique being the only organisation in the world with a research program dedicated to interfacing with wild animals (especially dolphins and whales) through music, art, and ceremony. IC is a US non-profit organisation founded by Jim Nollman in 1978 to promote a better understanding of what is communicated between human beings and other animals.

  • The Hawaii Whale Research Foundation
    site provide information about the natural history of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), with emphasis on North Pacific humpbacks in the Hawaiian islands and the research, education and conservation efforts of The Hawaii Whale Research Foundation.

  • The Dolphin Communication Project
    is a private, non-profit research foundation organized to promote awareness of marine mammal conservation and to increase knowledge of communication behaviors between and among all dolphin species by organizing/conducting underwater research expeditions/studies in dolphin communication; encouraging cetacean intern experiences and ostering collaborative endeavors with scientific and educational programs.

  • M.E.E.R. e.V.!
    is dedicated to the conservation of whales and dolphins and their natural habitat at La Gomera in the Canary Islands. The combination of whale watching- tourism, science and public work by M.E.E.R. LA GOMERA provides a bridge between economy and ecology and contributes to an ecological way, how whale watching can be conducted for the benefit of both humans and cetaceans.

    They have recently released a new report:
    Ritter, F. (2003) Interactions of Cetaceans with Whale Watching Boats - Implications for the Management of Whale Watching Tourism

  • Whales Alive Australia
    is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the protection and celebration of Whales and their fragile marine habitat and is working in a number of different areas on behalf of the endangered whales. Through education, training and vital research they are working to educate people about the whales fascinating natural history and what threatens their survival

  • WestWhales.org.au
    is dedicated to the rescue cof Cetacean Species in South Western Western Asutralia.

  • The Cetacean Studies Institute
    is dedicated to enhancing the connection between Humans and Whales, Dolphins & Porpoises.

  • Cetacean Research (& Rescue) Unit (CRRU), Scotland
    Dedicated to the understanding, welfare, conservation and protection of cetaceans (whales dolphins and porpoises) in Scotland and the marine environment in which they live.

  • Whale Rescue - New Zealand
    provides logistical and practical expertise and equipment for the rescue of whales and dolphins. They endeavour to be effective communicators and facilitators, maintaining and building relationships and networks while striving to be the leading and most successful cetacean rescue crew in New Zealand.

  • Preservation of the Amazonian River Dolphin (PARD)
    Dedicated to the preservation of the Boutu Dolphin in the Amazon River


  • PROFAUMA - Proteccion de Fauna Marina (Protection of Sea Animals) Uruguay
    a non-profit NGO formed by professional and non-professional honorary volunteers interested in the conservation and rehabilitation of sea animals, and in sharing scientific investigation.

  • Israeli Marine Mammal Research & Assistance Center
    is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study and conservation of cetacean populations that inhabit the Eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat..

  • Project Jonah Whale Rescue Inc - New Zealand.
    is a non profit organisation vitally involved in whale rescue and education, research and conservation issues relevant to marine mammals. The organisation is run by a dedicated team of volunteers.

  • The Center for Oceanic Research and Education (CORE)
    The Center for Oceanic Research and Education (CORE), based in Gloucester, MA, is an organization dedicated to the study and conservation of cetaceans. Cetaceans are whales, dolphins and porpoises. CORE's mission is to promote stewardship and conservation of cetaceans and their marine environment.

  • Biscay Dolphin Research Programme
    The Biscay Dolphin Research Programme is a voluntary research organisation and has been undertaking research in the Bay of Biscay and English Channel since 1995.


  • Atlantic Blue - Germany
    working to save the Taiji Dolphins and Whales and Dolphins in Gomera, Canery Islands.


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