Kenya Wildlife Service took up the challenge of YoD, in partnership withcorporate sponsors and local tour operators and at around this time last year,the オプショナルツアー ドルフィン Year of the Dolphin in Kenya was launched here in Shimoni, head quartersfor the Kisite Mpunguti Marine Protected Area.

We at GVI (Global Vision International),undertaking the only comprehensive research on dolphins in Kenya, soon came onboard to support the intiative. Since January 2007 we have been coordinating monthlyschool competitions with Mkwiro Primary School, tapping in to thechildren’s creativity and love of sport to raise awareness of the importance ofdolphins to their coastal community and to Kenya as a whole. Alongsideschool children in neighbouring Wasini village on the island, and Shimoniacross the channel on the mainland, the children have had a busy year designingt-shirts, drawing dolphins in their natural environment, making models, writingpoems, rehearsing songs and taking part in football, volleyball and netballcompetitions. I think our proudest moment was at Marine Environment Day inMombasa, when they made an incredible sand model of a Bottlenose Dolphin andwere able to tell us more about Kenya’s dolphins than any other school -proving that they really did care about dolphin conservation.

Of course the children represent the future of conservation butresponsible management needs to start now, and so we have also been targetingthe boat crews that take the tourists out to see the dolphins each day. One ofthe early successes of the オプショナルツアー ドルフィン Year of the Dolphin was the coast-wideimplementation by Kenya Wildlife Service of a dolphin watching code of conductbased on advice we put forward. To help the boat operators and crews understandthe code and why swimming with the wild dolphins is notpermitted, we have been holding a series of workshops. It was hoped thatwith the education they received about dolphins and their biology,they would be able to then pass it on to their guests. This not only increasesthe reach of the environmental awareness, but can also help relieve thepressure they can be placed under by tourists to get too close to, spend toolong with, or allow them to get into the water with the dolphins. Wereceived some great feedback by the crews who have been proud to use the newknowledge they have gained about the animals they have already spent manyworking years with.

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