The Mexican government has done an outstanding job of protecting the gray whales and their local Baja lagoons that give birth to the population.
Recently, Mexico honored the gray whales of Baja by displaying them on their 500 pesos note.
The note reads (in Spanish):
Ecosystems or coasts, seas and islands (are) represented by the gray whale, its calves and sea grass in El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve (Whale sanctuary of El Vizcaino World Heritage Site) in Baja California Sur.
The gray whales use the quiet waters of the large Baja lagoons as safe havens to give birth to their young.
The Mexican government safeguards the lagoons, carefully controls the whale watching industry, ensuring that local people lead tourist trips and benefit from the tourism, and have repeatedly rebuffed efforts by the government of Japan to kill gray whales for commercial purposes.
While we hope that one day the Mexican government will extend protection to dolphin and prohibit their tuna industry from chasing and netting dolphins, we strongly support the efforts of the Mexican government and the Mexican people to protect the gray whales and their sanctuaries in Baja.
Photo of gray whale breaching in San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja, by Mark J. Palmer/Earth Island Institute
The International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute joined with Mexican environmentalists and other organizations in convincing Mitsubishi and the Mexican government to reject building an industrial salt plant at San Ignacio Lagoon. Your support is critical to the success of our role as a guardian of dolphins, whales and their ocean habitats! Please consider a tax-deductible donation to continue our work.
