It's no secret that many species of animals are now on the brink of extinction. Especially this applies to those species that have long been caught for processing for food purposes. To protect these animals, special days are instituted, during which numerous events call attention to the problem of extermination of a particular species. One such day is the World Day of Whales and Dolphins.
When is the World Day of Whales and Dolphins celebrated?
The official date of the World Day for Whales and Dolphins is July 23, as this day was chosen by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. On this day, various activities are being carried out, not only to protect whales and dolphins, but also other marine mammals, because their numbers are decreasing every year.
For more than 200 years there has been an uncontrolled capture and slaughter of marine animals, especially whales, for profit. After all, whale meat was very valued in the market. Over time, catching has reached such a level that there is a real threat of extinction of several species of marine mammals, such as whales, seals and dolphins. First, restrictive quotas were introduced, and on July 23, 1982, a complete ban on the commercial capture of whales was declared. It was this date that was chosen in 1986 as the World Day of Whales and Dolphins.
However, the ban could not completely protect marine animals from the threat of extermination. Thus, although Japan officially joined the program document prohibiting the harvesting of rare marine mammals, it circumvented it, leaving a whale catch quota "for scientific purposes." Every day in Japan for such needs, about 3 whales are caught, and their meat, after carrying out "experiments", is on the fish markets of this state. The country even received a warning from Australia that if such a catch does not stop, then a lawsuit will be opened against Japan at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Also worth noting is another threat for these rare animals. A large number of dolphins and other marine mammals are caught for zoos, dolphinariums and circuses, which means they abandon habitual conditions of existence and, more often than not, are unable to reproduce, which also affects the reproducibility of the population. Now many species of whales, dolphins and marine mammals are listed in the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as well as the Red Book of the Russian Federation.
On July 23, various environmental measures are taken to protect rare species of marine animals. Often this day is done thematically, that is, it is devoted to drawing attention to the extermination of one rare species.
Other days dedicated to the protection of marine mammals
World Day of Whales and Dolphins is not the only day dedicated to drawing attention to the protection of marine animals. So, on the day of signing the resolution by the International Whaling Commission, on February 19, World Whale Day is celebrated.
There are different countries and their own holidays dedicated to these animals. So, in Australia, for example, the National Whale Day was decided from 2008 to celebrate the first Saturday of July, and in America this day is timed to the summer solstice. It is called the World Day of Whales and is celebrated on June 21. These days in different countries, various rallies are held in defense of endangered species of animals, environmental actions, various policy documents are adopted to protect whales,