English version
The Swiss Cetacean Society-SCS is a non-profit organisation devoted to the preservation of marine mammals in their natural habitat. We hold the conviction that improvement of our scientific knowledge of the animals and their environment is essential to ensure the establishment of efficient protection measures.
With this aim in mind, SCS distributes general information about marine mammals to the Swiss public, encourages access to specialised training and assures abroad the logistics at sea of scientific and environmental programmes.
The SCS has acquired, over the years, a solid experience in the logistics needed for scientific research for the protection of marine mammals.
The work of the SCS at sea
The SCS organises programs to acquire information on cetacean populations in the Mediterranean and in the Canadian Pacific. These programmes are created with eco-volunteers from the Swiss public and financed by the participants. Data collection from research platforms (ocean sailing yachts) is supervised by specialised naturalists and then forwarded to the mandated scientists who assure its treatment and use.
For example, between 1997 and 2009, the SCS carried out in the Ligurian Sea 1’123 days of data collecting from up to 6 platforms, in order to study whale and dolphin populations that frequent the Ligurian Sea in summer. In total, 1’130 people, divided into 203 teams, carried out these observations for the benefit of the International Commission for the Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean (CIESM), the Practical School of Higher Studies (EPHE) of Montpellier, the NGO écoOcean and the University of Genova (Italy).
The SCS is currently a logistic partner with the NGOs CIRCé and écoOcean as part of an international collaboration, on a multi-disciplined study of the Fin whale in the Mediterranean (the second largest whale of the World). This programme involves numerous researchers from various backgrounds (oceanographers, ecologists, geneticists, biochemists, etc.) under the scientific direction of Dr Christophe Guinet (CNRS), Dr Anne Collet, Dr Pierre Beaubrun (EPHE-CIESM) and Dr Léa David, and takes place from our research vessels in the Ligurian Sea between 2001 and 2003. The aim is to discover where the Mediterranean whales spend the winter, to analyse their health levels and their alimentation. In the framework of this research, the SCS collaborates closely with the Laboratory of Ecotoxicology of the EPFL in Lausanne (Prof. Dr Ing. J. Tarradellas).
The logistic activities of the SCS also extend to other domains of cetology, such as bio-acoustic recordings and collection of skin and faeces samples.
The SCS has thus become an important supplier of cetacean information of the north west Mediterranean, thus it is a recognised partner of the Monaco environmental institutions (CIESM, ACCOBAMS, RAMOGE) and belong to the scientific network MEDCET.
The SCS has been awarded the two official status of ACCOBAMS’ Partner and Earth Champion (Earth Champions Foundation).
Further afield, the SCS is supporting (financially and by sending volunteers) an environmental research project on Gray whales being carried out by Dr David Duffus of the Whale Research Lab at the University of Victoria, Canada.
The work of the SCS in Switzerland
In Switzerland, the SCS wishes to promote a better understanding of cetaceans and of their environment. The educational commitment is of great importance in the local activities of the Swiss Cetacean Society. For example, the SCS organises a Marine Mammals Course once a year and all year long numerous conferences are organised for school pupils as well as the general public. The SCS Junior’s Club set up educational material and activities for kids and teenagers, from 12 to 16 years old, as for example the Ateliers Mer (marine ecology sea camps).
Today in Switzerland, the SCS is one of the principal sources of information on cetaceans, and our specialist knowledge is available to the public, students, tourists and the media. The SCS makes it a point of honour only to supply information that is certified. Only a very strict information policy can permit the public to understand the real necessities of marine mammal conservation and their environment.
Glossary of abbreviations & Web sites :
ACCOBAMS = Monaco Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (Monaco).
CIESM = International Commission for Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean Sea (Monaco).
CIRCé = Conservation, Information and Cetacean Research (France).
CNRS = National Centre for Scientific Research (France).
EPHE = Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (University of Montpellier, France).
EPFL = Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland).
http://dgrwww.epfl.ch/GECOS
RAMOGE = International Agreement for the quality of the coastal waters between Marseille and La Spezia (Monaco).
Whale Research Lab at the University of Victoria (Vancouver, Canada).
http://www.geog.uvic.ca/dept/whale/wrlmp.html
Earth Champions Foundation
www.earthchampions.org
You can support the SCS activities to protect marine mammals and become a member
(CHF 60.-/ € 40.- per year) or make a donation to:
Swiss Cetacean Society – SCS
PO Box 1430 / CH-1001 Lausanne / Switzerland
Tél. + 41 (0)21-311 84 17
www.swisscetaceansociety.org
Donation : CCP 17-180194-1
As a member, the Swiss Cetacean Society offers you its report : L’Echo des baleines, the cyber-letter (monthly E-mail), an information evening and for pleasure, a Forum in Lausanne (1st Wednsday of even month), and a specialised team always available to reply to your answers.