Projects

Vida Marina Foundation has many ongoing projects.  These include creating the protected marine sanctuary, Identification of individuals, local and outreach education, human/dolphin/whale interaction studies and more.

The cumulative goals of our projects are:

• Promote and support with scientific research the creation of marine sanctuaries or reserves in the area.
• To protect marine resources with special emphasis on marine mammals and sea turtles.
• To support, promote and carry out scientific studies related to marine resources, especially those related to marine mammals and sea turtles.
• To carry out educational projects on these animals and contribute to the creation of an environmental awareness about marine resources
• To create a web of information, documentation and reference on local marine life with educational purposes.
• To stimulate and support other organizations and institutions that may share our goals.
• Promote regulated eco-tourism specially oriented towards cetaceans watching in their natural habitats.
• To support the creation of environmental and protective laws towards marine eco-systems and its resources.
• Implement varied educative activities with and for the local community (workshops, courses, presentations of the use of new technologies, GPS, data collecting, first aid for a beached or hurt cetacean and others).
• Develop educational programs and informative materials for kids, tourists and research (Drake‚ marine mammals ID catalogs, Interaction Guidelines for Tourists, Photo Id catalogs for Research use, Identification book on the area‚s marine species)
• Carry out environmental campaigns: waste reduction in homes and hotels, beach cleaning, recycling etc.
• Support the certification of tour operators and tour guides involved in Whale and Dolphin watching,
• Contribute to the establishment of adequate whale and dolphin watching activities and to guidelines for appropriate interaction.
• To better understand the relationship between humans and whales and dolphins, and why we are so curious and attracted to each other
• Pursue the general use of sighting data in order to write scientific articles and contribute to a better understanding of marine mammals.
• Create video documentaries on individual species and the making of the marine sanctuary