March 2021

We hope that you and your family are staying safe and as healthy as possible during the current pandemic. Even though we have not been able to work on our usual dolphin observation activities, we are continuing our work to protect the estuarine dolphins in any ways that we can until we are able to go back to our dolphin research program. We can still do education and we can work with other conservation groups to protect the environment that the dolphins live in. Our latest partnership campaign is described below.

Saving Right Whales

Learn about the campaign that 100 Miles has started in partnership with The Dolphin Project, Glynn Environmental Coalition, and St Marys Earthkeepers, to protect the right whales, which come to the area near the Georgia and Florida coasts to birth their calves. The campaign is working to save the existing right whales (fewer than 375 whales and approximately 100 breeding females) and to increase their numbers by decreasing threats that are caused by humans. Since 2017, at least 47 right whales have been killed by boat strikes and entanglements in fishing gear from the lobster and snow crab industries.

The actions that you can take to help include:

1. Choose to “Eat Local, Not Lobster” as much as possible, whether cooking at home or dining out. By forgoing lobster and snow crab, you’re making a choice to protect right whales and support local sustainable seafood industries.
2. Learn about your food choices. Do you know where your food comes from and how it was caught? Know how to make healthy and wildlife-friendly choices with the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program and the Glynn Environmental Coalition’s Safe Seafood program. It’s always a good practice to ask where your seafood was caught—shrimp from international waters or even the Gulf isn’t as safe for sea turtles as Georgia’s, for example—and stay as close to home as possible.
3. Educate others! Share why you’ve decided to avoid lobster and snow crab with your friends and family, or restaurants you frequent. See our “conversation starters” below, or print out a comment card to share.
4. Restaurant owners can participate, too! If you offer sustainable seafood options in lieu of lobster and snow crab, contact 100 Miles for an “Eat Local—Not Lobster” sign and other collateral to share with your customers.

For more information on the Save the Right Whales campaign, go to: https://onehundredmiles.org/rightwhales/