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Bottlenosed dolphins are frequently
found in Seychelles waters and are one of the species that enjoy 'surfing' on or inside the bow-wave created by fast moving boats. This habit is known as bow-riding.
Photo David Rowat
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The meeting started with an overview of the current situation which emphasized that despite the inauguration of the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary in the 1970s, almost no research had been done on the cetaceans in it since. Presentations were then made of the data gathered to date which in fact was rather sparse: the main sightings coming from Aldabra, Aride, research trips by the Seychelles Fishing Authority and the aerial monitoring programme of the MCSS. The sightings showed a predominance of bottle-nose dolphin sightings from around the inner islands with most whale sightings being of humpbacks from Aldabra.
The workshop continued with discussions as to the reasons behind the lack of data which it was thought stemmed from a lack of motivation as well as resources. The various participants all confirmed their willingness to participate in a more formal Marine Mammal Observatory and agreed that they would share their data with this body. Both the Ministry of Environment and Natural resources and the SCMRT-MPA offered to make resources available to expand this activity.
An outline of how the Observatory would function was then discussed and adopted in principle. It was agreed that MCSS would continue to coordinate the database with the hope that funding could be sought to develop this into a national facility as was being done for turtles under the MCSS project funded by the British High Commission.
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A Minke
whale is one of the more unusual visitors to Seychelles
waters. Photo courtesy Aride Island wardens.
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Participants agreed on the need to take a precautionary approach to whale watching activities and to establish a code of conduct based on best practice codes already available from many areas. It was stressed that the initial eco-tourism activities would need to be run alongside research and data gathering activities until a better knowledge base was established. Participants agreed to develop a Memorandum of Understanding through e-mail discussion and the organizers confirmed that they would start the ball rolling with a review of the sighting forms.
In conclusion a draft declaration of intent was made as follows:
The members of the workshop agree to:
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Work together in a public / private sector partnership to establish a Marine Mammal Observatory to monitor the current situation of Marine Mammals in Seychelles territorial waters;
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Establish methods to share data through an equitable Memorandum of Understanding;
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Raise the awareness of the general public about Marine Mammals;
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Increase data collection on the occurrence, behaviour, abundance and threats to Marine Mammals;
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Disseminate information to regional and international organisations;
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Reinforce the effective conservation of Marine Mammals in Seychelles territorial waters;
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Develop guidelines for Marine Mammal interactions based on best practice and the precautionary principle;
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Investigate mitigation methods to reduce impacts by Marine Mammals on fishery activities.
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