US Marine Mammal Commission provides funding
Southern Caribbean marine mammal stranding response training workshop
This week SCCN received word that the Marine Mammal Commision (MMC) of the USA has decided to grant the funding requested for a stranding response workshop for the Dutch Caribbean. The MMC is devoting a lot of attention to the Marine Mammal Action Plan for the Caribbean, since its meeting in Puerto Rico in December last year where the MMAP freshly adopted by the countries that are party to the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) Protocol, was presented to the MMC. As a result the MMC is making funding available to build marine mammal research and conservation capacity in the Caribbean region in support of the newly created MMAP. The funding for the SCCN stranding workshop was granted as part of that effort.
SCCN has now started work on the realization of this stranding workshop that will take place on Nov. 5-7 of this year, in close cooperation with the Eastern Caribbean Cetacean Network (ECCN), the department of Environment of the Netherlands Antilles (MINA) and the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA). Participants will be invited from both government departments and NGOs of all the Dutch Caribbean islands.
Background
In September 2008, the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) Protocol, part of the Convention for the protection and development of the marine environment in the Wider Caribbean (Cartagena Convention) adopted a Marine Mammal Action Plan (MMAP), a regional strategy to address conservation of marine mammals in the Wider Caribbean region. This plan identifies a number of priority actions to be undertaken. High on the list of priorities is the organization of regional stranding response training workshops in recognition of the urgent need for capacity building in the area of unusual mortality events of marine mammals, specifically: on‐the‐ground response to animal strandings and collection of relevant data; training in methods of sample collection, archiving of samples and establishment of an on‐line database for findings; and, as it applies, insight into ocean health.
Some of the activities recommended by the MMAP have already been undertaken, such as the successful stranding response training workshop for the Eastern Caribbean that took place in Trinidad in 2005 under the coordination of the Eastern Caribbean Cetacean Network (ECCN). A similar workshop for the French-speaking islands in the region is now being organized in January 2010 by France and ECCN with support from the SPAW secretariat, and a Spanish language workshop also will be organized in the near future.
The Dutch-speaking islands in the Caribbean, three in the northeastern Caribbean (St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, and Saba) and three in the southern Caribbean (Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao) have until now not been included in the training workshops, but the Netherlands Antilles has taken the initiative to also organize a training workshop for the Dutch speaking islands (although the working language will be English in order to be able to involve the same trainers that participated in the Eastern Caribbean workshop). The workshop will take place on November 5-7, 2009. The recently established Southern Caribbean Cetacean Network (SCCN) foundation on Curaçao is promoting marine mammal research and conservation activities and will host the stranding workshop.
The facilities and expertise available at the Curaçao Sea Aquarium/Dolphin Academy make it a natural location to organize a Dutch Caribbean stranding response workshop, which in turn will help to strengthen SCCN's research program and the recent collaboration with Mote Marine Laboratory and other US based institutions. Participants will include the relevant government and non-governmental organization representatives of each of the six Dutch-speaking islands and will be selected in consultation with the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA). Logistics will be handled by the SCCN. The Eastern Caribbean Cetacean Network (ECCN), together with Mote Marine Laboratory and the Smithsonian Institute will provide the trainers for the workshop.
Objectives
The purpose of this grant is to convene a marine mammal stranding response training workshop for all of the Dutch-speaking islands in the Caribbean. This will be modeled after the Eastern Caribbean stranding response workshop held in Trinidad in 2005, with the same curriculum and trainers, and is meant to complement the upcoming workshops for the French- and Spanish-speaking islands. Each sub-regional stranding response workshop aims to: optimize stranding responses and improve coordination of marine mammal research within the sub‐region; help ensure region-wide use of the same sampling and research protocols; and provide another building block linked to a Caribbean-wide stranding response network.
Anticipated Outcomes
The expected outcomes of this training are:
- People from each of the islands trained in effective response, allowing for maximum chance of successful recovery of stranded animals.
- Standardized techniques and protocols for preparation, handling, transport and storage of marine mammal specimens used by participants when responding to marine mammal strandings, ensuring effective sample collection for research to answer conservation questions.
- A clear "Incident Command System" (ICS) established on all islands to organize stranding events with clearly defined roles for all involved agencies/organizations and a set pyramid of authorization.
- A Southern Caribbean stranding response network (though also including the Dutch islands in the northeastern Caribbean) consisting of a pool of trained people on all Dutch islands with CPA as a center of expertise.
- A link with other sub‐regional stranding networks in the Caribbean such as ECCN, ensuring better communication and cataloguing of stranding events.
- Improved understanding and use of the expertise available at SCCN
- A report of the workshop that may be used to inform future workshops.
The training will be the 5th/6th and 7th of November.
