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Protecting Wildlife At Pacific Whale Foundation, our mission is to promote appreciation, understanding and protection of whales, dolphins, coral reefs and our planet's oceans. One way that we accomplish this is by educating the public -- from a scientific perspective -- about the marine environment. Our ocean ecotours have made it possible for us to introduce nearly three million people to the ocean environment -- and to inspire in them a greater desire to help protect whales, dolphins and coral reefs.
We are proud to have applied our research data and our experiences with whales to help create whale sanctuaries -- in Hawaii (the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary) and in Australia (Hervey Bay Marine Park). Pacific Whale Foundation also played an important role in developing laws limiting vessel approaches to whales in Hawaii and Australia.
Our staff has participated in the International Whaling Commission, sharing data that we've gathered from our 28 years of whale research in the Pacific. Our goal is to prevent the commercial killing of humpback whales.
All of our tours promote responsible wildlife watching. We strictly obey all state and federal laws regarding whales, dolphins, turtles and other marine wildlife. But that's just the start. Pacific Whale Foundation requires its staff to follow additional policies to further protect wildlife on our cruises, including:
1. Use of Whale Protection Devices: During 2006 and 2007, Pacific Whale Foundation custom-designed and then beta-tested "Whale Protection Devices" to guide whales away from potentially harmful underwater propellers and running gear. These devices are the first in the United States to be built and used on commercial passenger vessels and have been U.S. Coast Guard approved.
2. Be Whale Aware Campaign Pacific Whale Foundation's vessels are required to follow our "Be Whale Aware" guidelines for minimizing disturbances and preventing collisions in areas where whales and dolphins are present. These "Be Whale Aware" guidelines set vessel speed limits and limit the amount of time that can be spent around whale pods. In addition, Pacific Whale Foundation captains strictly adhere to all Federal and State laws which prohibit approaches to humpback whales within 100 yards. To eliminate any guesswork about the 100 yard distance, Pacific Whale Foundation's vessels are outfitted with Laser Range Finders.
3. Protecting Wild Dolphins We follow all National Marine Fisheries Service Guidelines and do not put guests in the water to swim with wild dolphins. Pacific Whale Foundation's wild dolphin tours off the coast of Lana'i are the most successful dolphin tours in Hawaii that do NOT allow people to swim with wild dolphins, but instead promote watching dolphins from the vessel, which is navigated in a way to be as unobtrusive as possible to the dolphins.
4. Ten Feet to a Turtle Many people do not realize that sea turtles must come to the surface to breathe. We ask that snorkelers remain ten feet or more from sea turtles, to give these graceful marine reptiles room to manuever and to breathe.
5. Let the Fish Find Their Own Food After research studies showed that feeding commercial or grocery-store food items to fish resulted in detrimental changes to the ecology of the reef, Pacific Whale Foundation became the first snorkel tour operator to ban fish feeding on its Molokini tours. Our "Peas Don't Feed Us" campaign encourages all snorkelers and divers to refrain from feeding peas, or other foods, to wild fish populations.
6. Keep it Quiet Pacific Whale Foundation's new, high-tech vessels that have low-emissions engines to reduce air pollution and sound-deadening hulls to reduce noise impacts on wildlife.
7. Mooring Pins Pacific Whale Foundation's staff was instrumental in establishing the installation of mooring pins at Molokini Marine Preserve and other popular Maui reefs. Our goal is to protect the delicate corals from anchors dropping or dragging across them. Per company policy, all vessels operated by Pacific Whale Foundation are prohibited from anchoring on coral.
8. Reef Safe Sunscreen Pacific Whale Foundation also provides free applications of reef-safe sunscreen to all of its snorkel cruise passengers. The reef-safe sunscreen is designed to be safe for use in aquarium settings and will naturally biodegrade in water.
9. Free Guides Pacific Whale Foundation creates, prints and distributes free wildlife watching guides to the public, including "Watching Hawaii's Humpback Whales," "Watching Hawaii's Sea Turtles," and "Enjoying Maui's Unique Ocean Environment" These guides promote understanding, respect and conservation of Hawaii's marine wildlife.
10. Fighting Global Warming The 140 employees who work at Pacific Whale Foundation are encouraged to reduce their carbon emissions, through a company program that helps pay for bus passes and will help offset the added cost of purchasing high-efficiency hybrid, rather than conventional vehicles. A new vessel, which will be solely powered by wind and photovoltaic solar panels, is currently under construction for Pacific Whale Foundation and is expected to launch in early 2009.
11. All Profits Help Save the Oceans Pacific Whale Foundation Eco-Adventures is wholly owned by the nonprofit Pacific Whale Foundation. 100% of the profits from Pacific Whale Foundation Eco-Adventures go to fund marine research, education and conservation programs conducted by Pacific Whale Foundation. These programs include the Butts off the Beach cigarette butt litter prevention campaign, onsite visitor education programs at Wailea's Ulua Beach and McGregor Point lookout, free talks and slideshows about the marine environment at Pacific Whale Foundation's Discovery Center, the Volunteer on Vacation program which involves visitors in hands-on activities to protect Maui's environment, and marine education programs for Maui schoolchildren, that include tidepool explorations, school whalewatches, beach clean-ups, marine debris monitoring, and more. Funds from Pacific Whale Foundation Eco-Adventures also support ongoing whale research in Australia, Tonga, Hawaii, Ecuador and other parts of the Pacific, and marine education programs for underprivileged children in coastal Ecuador.
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