Awareness and Education

People tend to get bored by long lectures and most often this approach has no effect on them. This is why we have always thought that interactive sessions together with booklets, photos etc. are the most appropriate methods to help raise awareness about the protection of the marine environment.

The following is a list of our achievements and productions to date

• Numerous interviews on national radio and television

• Participation in several documentaries

• Waterproof information card with details about the dolphins and the codes of conduct when encountering them

• Information panels on dolphins and the Dolphin Watching activity. They also recall the basic rules on how to respect the Mauritian Marine Environment.

• Posters based on the information panels

• Film on the awareness of the Marine environment

• Brochure for the general public with information on the two dolphin species they are likely to encounter, as well as the basic rules for the conservation of the marine environment.

• Educational booklet for children on marine mammals, "Dolphins and Whales"

• Awareness games for young people about the protection of the sea and the Mauritian coast:

- Oceanopoursuite

 This game was distributed during an open day on the marine environment campaign and was followed by a contest. The launch of the game in 1994 was widely covered by the print and broadcast media.

- Seven families 

The present state of our coastal environment and the lack of knowledge among the young people of Mauritius towards this problem demonstrate the need to make them aware of how to respect and protect our coastal heritage.

• Field guide: "A guide to Whales and Dolphins of Mauritius"

• Education sessions with all primary government schools of the western region

• Training sessions for almost 300 operators and skippers (general biology, species and behaviour recognition, common threaths to the marine environment and how to protect it) the  on the protection of marine mammals; the application of the code of conduct and the vulnerability of reef ecosystems as well as the utilisation of permanent mooring buoys.