Helsinki (ASCOBANS MOP8): WDC wins the prize!

In one of the main squares of Helsinki - Finland's capital - I unexpectedly find a giant octopus made of plastic wastes. Clearly a statement on the issue of marine debris.

That is kind of linked to my reason for being here which is to attend the 8th Conference of the Parties (the COP) of Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans [dolphins, porpoises and small whales] in the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas (ASCOBANS)

This is a three day meeting and starts a little like this: he Minister of the Environment of Finland above welcomes participants. This is followed by a theatre performance featuring the harbour porpoise by Frollein Brehm’s Life of Animals and the keynote speech by WDC CEO Chris Butler-Stroud.

Frollein Brehm in full flow

Chris Butler Stroud Addresses the COP

He stresses how it was first viewed by Sweden and the UK - lead players
in its establishment. 

Chris considers the Ecological Whale.

And he makes special mention of a recent key paper by his colleague Philippa Brakes and Sasha Dall - which can be found free online here: Marine Mammal Behavior: A Review of Conservation Implications

The executive secretary of the Convention
for migratory species,
Bradnee Chambers also makes some
opening comments. 

ASCOBANS has one prize that it gives at the COP - the Outreach and Education Award - and this meeting it is given to Whale and Dolphin Conservation.

Chris and Bradnee - Chris clearly anticipating the award

...and here it is.

And we move on into the business of the the meeting - budgets, action plans and resolutions.