Hobbies And Interests
Instructions
On the Water
Stay within speed limits when using a watercraft.
Watch for and avoid going near marine animals such as the blue whale. Even if your craft is much too small and slow to damage a blue whale in a collision, these animals get stressed and harassed when approached too closely. Keep your distance.
Report any boats or ships you see behaving irresponsibly to the U.S. Coast Guard. Note any details and take a photograph of the craft in question if possible.
Campaigning
Join a conservation campaign group. A number of organizations, including Pacific Environment, Friends of the Earth, which has a branch in California, and the Center for Biological Diversity, are working to protect blue whales by putting pressure on decision-makers, including California's representatives in Congress. The more people who get involved, the more effective these groups are.
Write letters asking for changes to protect whales. For example, changes to shipping regulations could reduce the chances of blue whales colliding with ships. Improved pollution controls and oil drilling regulations help all marine animals. Your campaign group can help you decide what to put in your letters and whom to send them to. Writing individual letters or emails to the right people has more impact than sending a form letter or signing a petition.
Educate people with posters and leaflets, available from conservation groups. Many, if not most, people want to protect blue whales, and the dangers caused by humans are generally accidental; nobody in California is setting off with a harpoon in pursuit of blue whales. Letting people know how to help gives them a chance to do something if they want to.
Protecting the Oceans
Use phosphate-free detergents; limit your use of chemicals in the garden; and choose organic food. Water pollution from these sources impacts all marine life, including blue whales.
Purchase sustainable fish. Ocean ecosystems are complex and interlinked. You might not eat the plankton and krill that blue whales eat, but eating endangered fish or other seafood affects the entire food chain.
Reduce your use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels add to water pollution either during normal extraction and processing or from oil spills. The noise of underwater drilling is disturbing to whales, who rely on sound for communication and navigation. Climate change also impacts marine ecosystems.