 In
an attempt to raise awareness of the critical conservation
status of Baltic harbour porpoises, the Agreement on the Conservation
of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas (UNEP/ASCOBANS)
has declared the third Sunday in May of each year the International
Day of the Baltic Harbour Porpoise (IDBHP).
Once again, the IDBHP was observed in countries around
the Baltic Sea. UNEP/ASCOBANS is pleased to note that in
addition to institutions in ASCOBANS Parties, two renowned
museums in the non-Party Range States Latvia and Lithuania
staged events on the occasion of the Third IDBHP. In Bonn,
the seat of the UNEP/ASCOBANS Secretariat, the IDBHP was
once again observed at Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Koenig
Bonn. A public lecture “Harbour porpoises in the Baltic
Sea: small whale in big trouble” by the known marine
biologist and journalist Petra Deimer (President, Gesellschaft
zum Schutz der Meeressäugetiere, GSM
) gave the German public insights into the dire situation
of the harbour porpoise in particular but also of marine
mammals generally in the Baltic.
An exhibition “Small cetaceans: artists under water”
currently provides interested visitors with an artistic
view of these unique creatures. The exhibited works of two
British artists, Martin Camm, who has cooperated with ASCOBANS
for many years, and Phil Coles, demonstrate the beauty and
elegance of our native dolphins and por-poises and can be
seen until 26 June 2005.
As in previous years the International Day of the Baltic
Harbour Porpoise is being marked this year by special exhibitions
and other events at the following locations: Särkänniemi
Dolphinarium Tampere, Finland; Gesellschaft zum Schutz der
Meer-essäugetiere (GSM), Quickborn, Germany; Maritime
Museum Stralsund, Germany; Latvian Museum of Natural History
Riga, Latvia; the Lithuanian Sea Museum Klaipeda, Lithuania;
Havets Hus, Lysekil, Sweden; the Museum of Natural History,
Stockholm, Sweden, in collaboration with the Swedish NGO
“Protect Whales & Dol-phins”.
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