IFAW’s research vessel visits the Belgian Capital

IFAW’s unique marine research vessel, Song of the Whale, sailed into the Brussels Royal Yacht Club (BRYC) for two days of events on 15 and 16 March 2007.

Members of the scientific community, politicians, students and children were able to go on-board and receive information on the ocean’s most endangered species and their changing environment.

At a press conference, the Belgian Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Mr. Alexandre de Lichtervelde, highlighted the active role of the Belgian Government in the Conservation Committee of the IWC. He also thanked IFAW for their excellent collaboration and scientific support. Having himself spent a week on the Song of the Whale off Iceland last year, he had been very motivated by the stirring encounter with these magnificent creatures.

The Belgian Minister for the Environment, Mr. Bruno Tobback, who inaugurated the event, visited the boat and met Song of the Whale’s team, whose pioneering, non-invasive research on whales and other marine mammals all over the world is a vital part of IFAW’s conservation work.

The IFAW EU Office had organised an exhibition in the Yacht Club on the multifaceted man-made threats to whales and other marine mammals. These include commercial and ‘scientific’ whaling, collisions with ships, bycatch and disturbance from intense noise in the oceans.

After its stop in Brussels, the Song of the Whale is set to carry out research on threatened sperm whales in the Mediterranean Sea.