Project Jonah: the programme training volunteers to save marine mammals
Aotearoa / New Zealand has one of the world’s highest rates of whale strandings, and hundreds of whales can beach themselves at one time. During these strandings, it is the highly skilled volunteer medics, trained by Project Jonah, who offer the best care possible.
By directing the public on how to help and maintain personal safety, these volunteers are able to keep stranded whales from overheating and, if possible, return them to the water.
Through the disruption of migratory routes by shipping, habitat threat from commercial fishing, pollution of ocean ecosystems and changes to water chemistry, whales face multiple severe obstacles to their survival. So if we truly wish to help the whales and preserve their role in countless ecosystems, we need to seek preventative solutions.
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