Hello all. This year is the International Year of the Dolphin. I had a life-changing encounter with cetaceans (which includes dolphins, whales, and porpoises). They are friendly and marvelous creatures. Cetaceans are mammals. They are migratory species. They breathe through their blowhole located on top of their heads. Marine biologists believe that these creatures are more intelligent than human beings. They have their own chirps and clicks as their way of communication. Dolphins use echolocation to find food. These creatures are emotional as well. I noticed that during my close encounter with a pseudorca and a bottle-nosed dolphin.

Cetaceans have no predator, but men. These lovely creatures face great threats. We heard many news about people killing these creatures for their meat. A particular restaurant in Asia serves dolphin meat on their menu eventhough they have a dolphin show. Japan serves dolphin meat in packs and label it as whale meat. Some cetaceans got entangled with fishing nets which caused them to suffocate. Global warming destroys the coral reefs, cetaceans source of food. Even the recklessness of garbage disposal harms the marine home of the cetaceans.

"This campaign focuses on raising awareness of dolphins in the wild, the threats they face to their survival and actions that could help their wild conservation. As the campaign is developed under the aegis of the UNEP Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals, whose mandate is the conservation of migratory wildlife, the campaign does not address or deal with captivity issues."

So, why are we here? It is only us and through us we can save them.



For more ideas on how to help cetaceans, please visit:
www.wdcs.org and www.yod2007.org