The recent past has
provided us with some amazing success stories of marine mammal
conservation. For example, most of the large whale species are
bouncing back from near extinction now that whale hunting is largely
abolished. The Grey Whale species that we observed from the North
American Pacific coast is a perfect example.
However, these
successes may soon be overshadowed by the growing problems that face
these animals today. Such threats include over fishing of our seas,
pollution of our waterways, and invasion by humans into areas that
were previously occupied by marine mammals.
Even seemingly
innocent activities can present a threat to marine mammals. For
example, humans who bring their pet dogs into areas frequented by
seals, sea lions or otters, may unknowingly introduce canine
distemper and other diseases into the wild marine mammal
populations.
We believe that if
more people were only better educated about the problems and their
solutions then many deleterious effects could be avoided.
