SISTER SANCTUARIES TO PROTECT ENDANGERED HUMPBACK WHALES

SISTER SANCTUARIES TO PROTECT ENDANGERED HUMPBACK WHALES AT BOTH ENDS OF ANNUAL MIGRATION - Dominican Republic and the United States Partner in Historic Conservation Effort

View of humpback whale migration route between the NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and the Marine Mammal Sanctuary of the Dominican Republic. (Photo credit “NOAA.”)

The Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has established the world's first sister sanctuary linkage protecting an endangered migratory marine mammal species on both ends of its range. The Santuario de Mamíferos Marinos de la República Dominicana (SMMRD—Marine Mammal Sanctuary of the Dominican Republic) and NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) off the coast of Massachusetts, two marine protected areas 3,000 miles apart, provide critical support for the same humpback whale population (of around 900 whales), which spend spring and summer in the rich feeding grounds of Stellwagen Bank before heading south to the warmer waters of the Dominican Republic in late fall to mate and give birth to their young. The sister sanctuary agreement was designed to enhance coordination in management efforts between the two sanctuaries and help improve humpback whale recovery in the North Atlantic.

"Long-term research tells us that the same individuals that summer off New England spend their winters off the Dominican Republic," said NOAA Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary superintendent Dr. Craig MacDonald. "Coordinating management and research across these habitats moves us several steps closer to ensuring the health of this endangered species."

The official memorandum of understanding to create the sister sanctuary relationship was signed by Daniel J. Basta, NOAA Sanctuary Program Director and Dr. Maximiliano Puig, Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources for the Dominican Republic. The sister sanctuary agreement goes into effect immediately and establishes the cooperation guidelines for the next five years.

"This conservation action is important as a model for the Wider Caribbean Region," said Puig. "Our sanctuary was the first marine mammal sanctuary established in the region, and it continues to lead by example. Our broadest mandate is to engender a new discussion in our society about the importance of marine mammals, the oceans in which they live and our responsibility as ocean stewards."

As sister sanctuaries, the two sites will explore new avenues for collaborative management efforts, including joint research, monitoring, education and capacity building programs. The NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program anticipates that the relationship will be crucial to future protection of the North Atlantic humpback whale population, as well as to the development of further cooperative agreements.

"The sister sanctuary relationship will play a powerful role in protecting          endangered humpback whales, and the opportunity for international                cooperation in marine conservation is invaluable," said Basta. "This agreement has the potential to                improve our scientific knowledge, enhance our management ability and increase     the program's visibility—benefits that extend far beyond the sanctuaries involved."

Regional Significance—Relevance to SPAW

During the past two decades, awareness of marine mammals and their habitats in the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR) has increased. Because marine mammals are trans-boundary animals, successful conservation of marine mammals in the WCR will ultimately depend upon the commitment of countries there to build and maintain, with international assistance, internal capacities for setting conservation priorities and achieving high standards of population and habitat protection.

“Our ability to protect humpback whales will be determined by understanding the mosaic of interactions, including the pervasive historical, geographic, biological, chemical, and human factors, which influence their abundance and distribution,” said Dr. Nathalie Ward, SBNMS Sister Sanctuary Coordinator. “The human activities that affect these animals are unlikely to stop but we can think about what we do, and make choices about an integrated regional-scale approach to research, outreach and policy strategy within an environmentally relevant and socially responsible framework.”

One of the goals of the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) to the UNEP Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region is to develop specific regional and national management plans for endangered, threatened or vulnerable species in support of national biodiversity conservation efforts. In order to achieve this, the Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Parties to the SPAW Protocol developed a draft Marine Mammal Action Plan (MMAP) for the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR) in 2005 (http://www.cep.unep.org/pubs/meetingreports/MMAP/mmap.php). This framework of activities has been developed in order to assist governments in the region with their efforts to develop and improve marine mammal conservation practices and policies. In order to accomplish these objectives, the draft MMAP specifically requests the following “sister sanctuary relationship” under “actions needed” in section 2.4.7 of the draft MMAP:

 … “design marine protected areas and other management regimes that maintain ecological connections between MPAs in order to satisfy species' requirements, including “sister sanctuary” relationships that promote protection for transboundary assets.”

Alessandra Vanzella-Khouri, SPAW Programme Officer, applauds the sister sanctuary initiative: “ both countries are Parties to SPAW and with these type of initiatives manifest the true spirit of regional cooperation which the Protocol underpins as a key element to ensure the conservation of transboundary endangered species. A similar and important effort in this region is the proposal of the marine mammal Sanctuary for the French Antilles within the territorial waters of the Departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique”.

NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary

The NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary encompasses 842 square miles of ocean, stretching between Cape Ann and Cape Cod offshore of Massachusetts. Renowned for its scenic beauty and remarkable productivity, the sanctuary supports a rich assortment of marine life, including marine mammals, more than 30 species of seabirds, more than 60 species of fishes, and hundreds of marine invertebrates and plants. The NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program seeks to increase the public awareness of America's marine resources and maritime heritage by conducting scientific research, monitoring, exploration and educational programs. Today, the sanctuary program manages 13 national marine sanctuaries and one marine national monument that together encompass more than 150,000 square miles of America's ocean and Great Lakes natural and cultural resources.

The Dominican Republic Marine Mammal Sanctuary

In October 1986, the "Silver Bank Humpback Whale Sanctuary" was established in the Dominican Republic to protect the mating, calving and nursery grounds of humpback whales. In 1996, the sanctuary was extended to include Navidad Bank and part of Samana Bay, covering the three main humpback breeding grounds in Dominican waters. At this time the sanctuary was renamed Santuaria de Mamiferos Marinos de la Republica Dominicana (Marine Mammal Sanctuary of the Dominican Republic), or SMMRD in Spanish. Today, the SMMRD protects all marine mammals within its 19,438-square-mile area. Within the sanctuary, Silver Bank, located approximately 50 miles northeast of the Dominican Republic coast in the Caribbean Sea, represents the densest concentration of humpbacks found in the north Atlantic.

Partners in Conservation

Created in the year 2000 by the merger of more than ten institutions, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources is one of the young ministries of the Dominican Republic. Its mission is to protect and manage the country's environment and natural resources with the objective of reaching sustainable development. Every year, during the humpback whale observation period of January to March, the ministry establishes an agreement with local and governmental institutions to promote tourism, marine and business activities within the sanctuary that do not affect the habitat and reproductive cycle of the mammals. This initiative is the result of the ministry's policy for an open, democratic and participative management based on the cooperation and strategic alliances between the state, local communities, the private sector and non-governmental organizations.

NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA. NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of the nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 60 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

Relevant Websites:

Dominican Minister of Environment:  http://www.medioambiente.gov.do

Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary: http://stellwagen.noaa.gov

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

NOAA National Ocean Service: http://www.oceanservice.noaa.gov

National Marine Sanctuary Program: http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov

Caribbean Environment Programme http://www.cep.unep.org

Convention on Migratory Species http://www.cms.int/ 

Dr. Nathalie Ward, External Affairs Coordinator for SBNMS, negotiated the sister sanctuary MOU. Since 1990, she has served as marine mammal consultant for UNEP/SPAW and its draft Marine Mammal Action Plan. She divides her time as a marine biologist and marine mammal educator between Bequia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Woods Hole, Massachusetts. For additional information about the sister sanctuary relationship, please contact: Nathalie.Ward@noaa.gov