World Cetacean Alliance

After developing the Responsible Whale Watching Certification and receiving excellent take up in countries including Mexico and South Africa, the World Cetacean Alliance (WCA) — the largest network of whale and dolphin watching experts — had been struggling to roll out the programme in countries where boat operators don’t tend to have the funds required for training.

As a way to reduce costs but achieve maximum impact, the WCA concluded that providing certification training would only be possible (in certain countries) if whale watching cooperatives were developed, in partnership with local NGOs.

To administer the setup of these cooperatives, sankalpa has funded a full time staff member for 12 months. The new team member is cocreating the programme alongside NGOs, fishing and whale watching communities in East Africa and South America.

With 13 million tourists annually choosing to spend their holidays whale watching, the WCA saw these figures as a clear opportunity to reach and influence a significant number of people. 

The WCA’s approach is about bringing people together to overcome individual differences. Through defining and meeting common goals, the WCA is balancing marine conservation activity with the commercial needs of communities dependant on making their livelihoods from the fishing and tourist industries.

Although plastic pollution is widely reported for its hazards to marine life, fishing nets are the biggest threat to large marine mammals. Key reports such as the 2012 paper from Conservation Biology found that entanglement was the primary cause of death of whales between 1970-2009, and ICES Journal of Marine Science reported in 2019 that North Atlantic right whales have been in decline since 2011, largely due to vessel collisions and entanglement in fishing gear.

WCA developed the first global certification for whale and dolphin watching in 2019. The Responsible Whale Watching Certification is given to operators who can prove that their guides and crew have the understanding required to operate with a high standard of local wildlife care, sustainability and customer experience.