Abstract:
In 2015, an online survey was conducted to investigate public attitudes toward key
cetacean (whale, dolphin, and porpoise) conservation and 'hot topic' issues such as
legislative protection, whaling, and captivity (n=858). Importance of the use of social
media by scientists and conservationists and its accuracy was also addressed. When given
a list of whale and dolphin species, 24.01% participants thought the blue whale was the
most endangered, 22.14% thought it was the humpback whale, and 23.43% stated the
killer whale. Additionally, participants were also asked which species listed was the most
important to conserve: 39.74% indicating the bottlenose dolphin was the most important.
Only 6.29% highlighted the most endangered cetacean (the Vaquita or Gulf of California
harbor porpoise) and 5.01% noted the endangered North Atlantic right whale. More
members of the public highlighted non-existent (fake) species as being of conservation
concern than certain species of genuine concern (e.g. Pygmy short-fined whale, Lumpheaded
dolphin, and Majestic spotted dolphin). The majority of participants considered
dolphins and whales to be "under protected" or only "slightly protected" (29.95%;
41.96%, respectively) and expressed that marine mammal conservation laws and policies
were "very important" or "important" (47.43%; and 37.88%, respectively). In addition,
86.83% of participants expressed opposition to the hunting of dolphins and whales
(57.93% "strongly opposed" and 28.90% "opposed"); however, only 47.44% of
participants were aware that several countries are still involved in whaling. Participants
were divided on opposition or support of dolphins and whales in marine parks and
aquariums (54.43%; 45.57% respectively). But 86.01% or 6 times as many members of
the public preferred to view cetaceans in the wild via-whale watching than in captivity,
and a majority noted that cetaceans should only be kept in captivity when dolphins are
sick or injured, for conducting research relevant to dolphin conservation in the wild, and
for conducting research on captive dolphin rearing and breeding (husbandry). A lack of
awareness of the conservation status of whales and dolphins and continued whaling
activities suggests that greater outreach to the public about the conservation status of
whale and dolphin species is needed.
