Why was the Marineland Right Whale Project established?
Scientists, conservationists, and resource managers are faced with a difficult task. Each year from December through March, a relatively small number of whales, generally fewer than 100, occur in a large area (400 nautical miles of coastline from North Carolina to Florida). While near-daily aerial surveys take place in some areas, they are only partially effective. In other areas, aerial surveys are few and coverage is poor. The Project’s solution to “a small number of whales distributed over a large area” is to increase the number of eyes looking — i.e., “if you want to catch more fish, use a bigger net.” What are the Project’s Guiding Principles? • Government and scientists alone cannot provide the resources or information required. A large, effective, and complementary effort is being provided by volunteer citizen scientists. • Homegrown and grassroots projects are more creative, more likely to take hold, and more likely to produce results than externally directed government initia
