A workshop organized by Iceland's Whale Watching Association, IceWhale, was held last February 19 and 20. The meeting is part of a series of working meetings organized by IceWhale, which is sponsored by the American Embassy in Iceland, and the series follows an educational trip organized by the US State Department this spring, where representatives of the Whale Museum were among the participants.
The workshops were very interesting and most of the presentations dealt with how to improve the quality of whale watching in Iceland, with regard to visitors, boat traffic and the animals themselves. Among the guest speakers was the distinguished Carole Carlsson, an expert at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, director of research and education at the Dolphin Fleet and a consultant at the International Whaling Commission. She shared her experience of working in whale watching and encouraged the members of IceWhale to continue their professional work for the benefit of the industry.
At the end of the meeting, the members of IceWhale signed an official statement on the guiding principles for responsible whale watching, in a solemn ceremony, and among the guests were Minister of Tourism Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir, Robert C. Barber, the American ambassador to Iceland, as well as Stuart Gill, the British ambassador to Iceland. The moderators were Ásbjörn Björgvinsson, founder of the Whale Museum, and María Gunnarsdóttir, employee of IceWhale.
It is planned that the next meeting of the series will be held in Húsavík, and it can be noted that the signed document is now kept at the Whale Museum in Húsavík.
Here you can see Huld Hafliðadóttir, project manager of the museum, with the signatures.
