The SCCN can be contacted through our general email address info@sccnetwork.org  or call us directly on the following number: +5999 6660827

More info about the members of the SCCN you can go the Who we are page where you will find all the information on the BOD and the individual advisors.

Many people, seeing the amount of effort that is being put into saving the stranded pilot whale at Jan Thiel Bay wonder what the big deal is about; why people will stand in the water for eight hours a day to save one animal. Why all this effort when there are people starving in Africa?! In fact there are people practically hungry right here on our island! So, why all this effort for one whale?

The answer to this question will vary of course depending on your view of animals. Some see them as fellow beings on a common planet (you don't complain about a person being cared for in Intensive Care either, do you?), others as things to be used for their convenience (who cares if it dies, it's just a piece of meat with fins and there's plenty more out there), just to give two viewpoints at opposite sides of the spectrum. The SCCN view is probably skewed somewhat more to the common planet side but tries to be rational.

The way SCCN looks at this is from both a conservationist and a research perspective. We know (research wise) very little about whales and dolphins in the Caribbean. Aside from debating whether pilot whales are actually threatened in our region or not, we can concede that the survival of this one animal is not going to make a difference to the survival of the species as a whole. However, in order to effectively protect the species, we need to know about them. Without knowing how they live, where they go, how they behave in the wild, we don't know where their vulnerabilities are. This stranded pilot whale provides us with a unique chance to learn more about the species. If it survives, we can follow it when it is released and ideally see how it integrates with a new group (a pod) of pilot whales, and then follow the pod to see where it goes. This has not been done before with pilot whales; we know very little about them except that you normally see them in pods. Anything we learn is very valuable not just because it enriches our knowledge, but because it can help protect the species. SCCN firmly believes that the loss of any whale or dolphin species would be a terrible loss, which would leave our lives as humans emptier and poorer.

So, SCCN and its volunteers are willing to expend an extraordinary effort to save this one pilot whale. Not just because it is a long-lived mammal with a large brain just like us, which may or may not be aware of its plight and the help it is receiving, but because we can learn so much from this one animal which may help us to protect them as a species. That will be worth all of these efforts and more.

In order to effectively do this we will need this pilot whale not only to survive, we also need to fit it with a satellite transmitter that will allow us to follow it when it is released in the neighborhood of a passing pod. That will be very expensive, but not only will it provide us with a chance to learn more about pilot whales, it will also allow us to step in if the pod might not accept this newcomer, so we can try again with another pod.
We are looking for (a) sponsor(s) for such a satellite tag and the facilities to track the pilot whale by satellite. By helping us do this you will not only help this one whale, but in the end you will be helping all (pilot) whales in the Caribbean.

De walvissen worden verdeeld in de onderordes balein walvissen (Mysticeti) en de tandwalvissen (Odontoceti). In andere talen dan het Nederlands gebruikt men vaak de benaming rorquals, de meeste baleinwalvissen zijn rorquals (alle vinvissen en de bultrug). Dolfijnen zijn tand walvissen. Binnen de tand walvissen kent men de familie Delphinidae dwz. de echte dolfijnen met een duidelijke rugvin waartoe o.a behoren de bruinvis, de griend en de orka. Van Dale zegt: Griend, van het Deens grind, soort rondkop dolfijn. Van Dale noemt de Orka (in het Nederlands met een k geschreven, afgeleid van het latijn Orca, dat terug voert op het Grieks: Oruga) een in zee levend zoogdier dat tot de familie van de dolfijnen behoort, syn. zwaardwalvis. Blijkbaar wordt de grootste dolfijn ook walvis genoemd. De conclusie is dat de tand walvissen uit de familie Delphinidae dolfijnen zijn, maar dat de grootste ook walvis genoemd wordt en men in andere talen de grens niet altijd bij dezelfde grootte legt, dat dit laatste derhalve enigszins subjectief is. In het Engels spreekt men van een pilot whale (griend). In het Frans dat in het caribisch gebied gesproken wordt, noemt de shortfin pilotwhale Marsouin calebasse. Het Nederlands noemt de orka, de grootste dolfijn of zwaardwalvis (Van Dale). De potvis die geen duidelijke rugvin heeft is geen dolfijn en wordt tandwalvis of cachelot genoemd. Ook de beluga en de narwal (van het Deens, Noors narvhal) behoren niet tot de dolfijnen. De rivierdolfijnen behoren tot de familie van de Planistidae en worden alle dolfijn genoemd er bestaan geen rivierwalvissen.

Cetacean is the name used to classify the scientific order of all whales and dolphins. The origin of the term is from the Greek word "cetus" meaning "large sea animal."

Much of the human population on Earth inhabits coastal areas. Of course, while people can choose to limit their exposure to the ocean or seafood . . . cetaceans have no choice in the matter. They are exposed to our pollutants continuously throughout their life. We have already witnessed large-scale die-offs of marine mammals repeatedly around the world. Unlike mass extinction events, which involve major geological events, the current extinction phenomenon is caused by a single species: humans. Many such incidents have been found to be directly related to human activities. This, of course, leads to some difficult questions.

Is it wise to adopt a "wait and see" attitude - hoping the situation in our seas improves? Will it take the loss of a few cetacean species to prompt more attention and effort on our part? If we fail to protect them . . . can we truly expect to protect ourselves? At SCCN, our immediate goal is knowledge . . . our ultimate goal is preservation . . . of cetaceans . . . of our seas . . . of ourselves.

Stranding of Cetaceans often end sadly because of well-intentioned but uninformed help. Flippers and dorsal can be easily damaged by trying to move cetaceans back into the water. They can also suffocate if their blowholes are obstructed. The biggest danger of a cetacean on dry land is overheating. Therefore you need to keep them cool and wet but don't obstruct the breathing through their blowhole. In case you saw a stranded cetacean, get a member of SCCN to the scene as soon as possible. You can call us in case of emergencies in the Southern Caribbean for help on +5999 666082.

You can visit our website regularly and sign in for our newsletter so you'll be always up to date about SCCN.

You can make your own newsletter, ask your friends to sign up and create a distribution list. Send them our newsletter also and add on other new mammal information from other websites.
If you have a website of your own, you can also put our logo and news on it, so others will see and hear about us.

Visit relevant newsgroup and chatrooms and ask people if they want to support SCCN. Talk up the issues and get others informed and involved about SCCN

Know something about computers? Help a friend make the website of SCCN the home page on their browser, so they get SCCN news every time their browser starts up.

There is a lot to be done for this young organization and help is always welcome. A volunteer at the SCCN can help out with a wide variety of tasks. For more information about getting involved, you can click here.
You can also support SCCN by donating. For more information about how to make a donation to SCCN, click here.

If you have a question about your donation to SCCN or you want to make a donation, but you would like to receive more info about it, please send an email to info@sccnetwork.org or fill in our contact sheet.

The Southern Caribbean Cetacean Network is based in Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles) and we have volunteering opportunities from time to time for those who are interested in helping us out in the office and, occasionally, in the field. The availability of volunteering opportunity at the office varies depending on ongoing projects.

If you meet the above conditions and would like to volunteer, you need to send an email, with a copy of your resume, letting us know which field you would like to volunteer for and when you would be available.

Also if you can't volunteer, and are not able to make a donation, you can still do very helpful things for SCCN. You can regularly visit our website and you could sign in for our free email newsletter. You can also make your own newsletter, ask your friends to sign up and create a distribution list. Send them our newsletter also and add on this, news about mammals or other mammal information from other websites.
If you have a website of your own, you can also put our logo and news on it, so others will see and hear about us. Visit relevant newsgroup and chat rooms and ask people if they want to support SCCN. Talk up the issues and get others informed and involved about SCCN.
Do you know something about computers? Help a friend make the website of SCCN the home page on their browser, so they get SCCN news every time their browser starts up.

You can copy paste the text and pictures on this website to help spread the word (in your blogs, on your websites, in almost anything you do). You can only use the pictures if you keep them next to the words (because of legal reasons)The pictures have stricter copyrights stuck to them, so you need to keep the picture next to the text that was next to the image when you found it. You can also of course link it back to this website, so viewers of your text and article can visit our website and can learn more about us.

If you don't live in the Netherlands Antilles and would like to volunteer, you need to contact us and enquire to what opportunities we may have for you.

We are looking for a wide variety of volunteers with different backgrounds that can help us out with the following:
* Creating our newsletters
* Help updating the website (for content and that have computer skills!)
* We are also looking for people that want to work together on a joint project for setting up database for animal identification
* A person interested in the field of research, that can write a review and blog on past events up to today regarding the beached pilot whale
* Volunteers that are able to do interviews and work them out

Enough to do as you can see! Please send us an email if you are interested! NOTE: for the above we ask that you have your own PC/laptop.

We appreciate it very much when you link to us and help spread the word about SCCN and our activities. You don't need permission; you are welcome to link to our main site or any of the issue/pages that you find interesting.
You can take and use the text and pictures on our website to help spread the word in your blogs, on your websites, in almost anything you do. The pictures have stricter copyrights stuck to them, so you need to keep the picture next to the text that was next to the image when you found it. You can also of course link back to this website, so viewers of your text and article can visit our website and can learn more about us.

If your link is relevant to our activities and field of research, we will consider using it on our page with links. You can email us your link, with a brief summary of information and its intention.