The Namibian Dolphin Project

Leading research and conservation activities on Namibia’s whales, dolphins, seal and turtles since 2008

Background

The Namibian Dolphin Project was established in 2008 and now serves as the flagship project of Sea Search. We run research and education activities from our base in Walvis Bay.

The Namibian Dolphin Project is a research and conservation project working in Walvis Bay and Luderitz, Namibia, which was started in 2008 and has grown from strength to strength since then. Our core focus is research on coastal dolphins and whales in Namibian waters, with the ultimate aim of generating high-quality data useful to both science and management. We work closely with local NGOs, including the Namibian Chamber of Environment, which hosts us officially, the Namibian Nature Foundation, especially their Albatross Task Force, and local seal disentangling heroes, Ocean Conservation Namibia. We also work closely with the marine tourism industry and the Namibian government to ensure that our results get to the right people and make an impact in real-world scenarios.

Our mission is primarily to research Namibia’s cetacean populations to generate data that can be used to inform their conservation through management. Additionally, we are increasingly working with the community through our outreach programme to increase awareness of Namibia’s marine life. As lovers of nature, we are concerned about the increasing number of human impacts threatening the Namibian environment; as scientists, we hope we can do something about it.

The Namibian Dolphin Project team is led by PIs Dr Simon Elwen and Dr Tess Gridley