Aquarium supports Team Russia in their bid to Sail for the Whale

By Two Oceans Aquarium / 30 October 2008

The Two Oceans Aquarium is proud to announce that Team Russia, currently participating in the Volvo Ocean Race, has adopted Shoreline Café at the Aquarium as its home base during its Cape Town stopover from approximately 3 to 15 November 2008. The crew, stationed on North Wharf adjacent to the Aquarium, will be treated to the warm hospitality of Shoreline Café while enjoying a well-deserved break with friends and family in the fairest Cape.

The association between Team Russia and the Aquarium is significant since the Team has joined forces with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) which is the only global non-government organisation dedicated solely to the protection and conservation of whales, dolphins and their environment. Team Russia’s Volvo Open 70 yacht, named Kosatka, Russian for orca (killer whale), in honour of the speed, agility and team work of these remarkable animals, carries the environmental message ‘We sail for the whale’ in recognition of its partnership with the WDCS.

The WDCS will host a small exhibition stand in the Aquarium during the race stopover and visitors to the Aquarium will have the opportunity to learn more about the WDCS as well whale and dolphin species in southern African waters. They will also be able to support the initiatives of the Society by signing the petition for the creation of marine protected areas and by purchasing “I sail for the whale” merchandise.

The partnership between Team Russia and the WDCS launched the WDCS’s campaign for the creation of twelve significant new marine protected areas for whales and dolphins around the world by 2012. These safe havens will protect critical habitat for vulnerable and endangered populations in all the oceans of the world, from the mangrove forests favoured by tropical dolphins in the Bay of Bengal to the big whale feeding grounds in Antarctica’s Ross Sea.

Erich Hoyt, WDCS’s Marine Protected Area Programme Leader said, “The Volvo Ocean Race will visit some of the most important areas for whales and dolphins and presents a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of the need to protect these vulnerable animals. We hope that people everywhere will join us in calling for protected zones in the sea to be set aside for whales and dolphins – safe homes that will ensure that what is rightfully theirs and has been for millennia is well protected.”

All around the world, whales and dolphins are fighting for survival. Every day they face being entangled in fishing nets, poisoned by chemicals, harassed, starved and evicted from where they feed, breed and take shelter.

Few of the areas on which even the most endangered populations depend for survival are protected. These remarkable animals need homes in the sea – protected places where they can raise their families, find food, rest and play.

Established in 1987, WDCS is staffed by over 70 people, along with many more volunteers. It has offices in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Germany, the UK and the US and a worldwide network of consultants, researchers and supporters. Its work combines concern for the welfare of the individual animals with efforts to ensure the protection of entire species, populations and their habitats. It engages political campaigning and lobbying, active conservation projects and world-class science, research and educational initiatives.

The Volvo Ocean race is the world’s premier global yacht race and arguably the most challenging sporting event in the world. Established in 1973 as The Whitbread Round the World Race, the race covers nearly 39,000 nautical miles of the globe’s most treacherous seas and this year will visit 12 ports.

The 2008 - 2009 race started in Alicante, Spain on 4 October 2008. Racing in the ultra high-tech Volvo Open 70, teams are traveling in an easterly direction with the race finishing in St Petersburg on 27 June 2009.

For more information please contact:

Holger Rönitz
Project Manager
WE SAIL FOR THE WHALE
WDCS Germany
Tel. + 49 89 6100 2395
Fax. + 49 89 6100 2394
mob. +49 151 16 20 49 79
E-Mail. holger.roenitz@wdcs.org
SKYPE: holger.roenitz

Liz Rushall
Sponsorship & Communications Manager
Team Russia
M +44 7718 317601 (Spain +34 622 694 411)
T +44 1243 372547

Email: Liz.Rushall@teamrussia.org
www.teamrussia.org