SANCTUARY FOR CUVIER'S WHALES



We want to create a sanctuary for Cuvier's whales and beaked whales (family Ziphiidae) in the waters off Fuerteventura island.

From 1985, fifty-four cetaceans of this group have died at the same time that military manoeuvres were developed.

The Ziphiidae are the rarest cetaceans of the world due to their peculiar customs. Some species never have been seen with life. Usually they live in deep waters far from the coasts and attain between 4 and 13 meters in length.

Altogether, 20 species of the family Ziphiidae exist, and the waters off Fuerteventura holds a very important population of these animals.

The animals stranded in Fuerteventura in coincidence with the last made military manoeuvres (Neotapon 2002) have been a total of 15, pertaining to the species Ziphius cavirostris, Mesoplodon europaeus and Mesoplodon densirostris. An ecological disaster given the extreme rarity of these cetaceans.

Help us to obtain a Sanctuary for these animals.

Help us so that military manoeuvres are not made in such a biologically sensitive area as the coasts of Fuerteventura island, which constitutes the habitat of these peculiar and unique cetaceans.

Help us to obtain a calm area where these mysterious cetaceans can live peacefully.

Show us your adhesion to this campaign through our email: medioambiente@majorero.com

Toni Gallardo
Director Environment Department
Institute of Research and Science of Puerto del Rosario
Fuerteventura (Canary islands)