KOCHI: They are trailing behind all the yachts.
But there is more to Team Russia than a group of professional sailors; they want to make a difference in their global roaming.
“We Sail for the Whales’, is the motto of Team Russia in the Volvo Ocean Race.
Team Russia and Whales and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) have formed a partnership for the Volvo Ocean Race to highlight the urgent need for better protection of whales and dolphins. Since Volvo Ocean Race has stopovers at important areas where whales and dolphins are found, WDCS and Team Russia crew believe that spreading the message during the race will help in creating safe havens for these species.
All around the world, whales and dolphins are struggling for survival. They are entangled in fishing nets, poisoned by chemicals and evicted from the area where they breed and shelter. The campaign calls for 12 large, highly protected safe havens for whales and dolphins called Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) by 2012. These safe havens would protect habitats of vulnerable and endangered populations in all oceans in the world, from the mangrove forests of tropical dolphins in the Bay of Bengal to the big whale feeding grounds in Antartica’s Ross Sea.
A petition will be presented to governments and international conservation agencies in June 2009 when the race concludes at St Petersburg, Russia.
WDCS has had a presence in Russia since 1999, managing the Far East Russian Orca Project, along with a team of young Russian scientists. The Russian waters provide a home to 29 species of whales and dolphins ranging in size from 1.5 to 33 metres.
The team’s boat has been named Kosatka, Russian for orca (killer whale), in honour of the speed and agility of this species. The name is also a tribute to the orcas of Kamchatka, a 1250-km-long peninsula in the Russian Far East, and WDCS’s long term research and conservation project in Russian waters to ensure the protection of orcas.
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