Spring Update 2023

Dr. Lori Marino, President and Founder, and Charles Vinick, Executive Director, bring us up to date on the Whale Sanctuary Project since our winter update. They discuss work at the sanctuary site and explain some of the recent delays in completing work for government permitting. These are always frustrating, but they’re also inevitable for a project of this size and scope. As Charles says: “Because the sanctuary is a first-of-its-kind project anywhere in the world, the various agencies involved in permitting are actually figuring out with us what permits apply and from which agencies.” They also talk about the encouragement we receive from government at all levels – federal, provincial, local and tribal. Most recently, Canadian Senator Marty Klyne rose to ask Senator Marc Gold, the federal government’s representative in the Senate, whether the Government supports the goal of moving the remaining whales to the sanctuary in Nova Scotia and to other possible homes. Senator Gold replied that while aquatic parks are under provincial jurisdiction, the federal government has a role to play “and will play it responsibly.” And, regarding our Whale Aid programs, Charles talks about how members of the Whale Sanctuary team have also been assisting in the unprecedented collaboration at the Miami Seaquarium among non-profit groups, independent veterinarians, the owners of the Seaquarium, and local government, to create a better future for the orca Tokitae, who has been living there for more than 50 years. (Funding for the work with Tokitae, including staff time, is being provided entirely by Jim Irsay, CEO and owner of the Indianapolis Colts.) For more information go to https://whalesanctuary.org Your donations are greatly appreciated and are exclusively for the creation of the sanctuary in Nova Scotia: https://whalesanctuary.org/donate