I’ve been a whale naturalist for 6 years and a whale enthusiast for most of my life but since I’m not out on the water every day, I’ve always found it very challenging to keep up with what the whales have been doing and who’s seen what. Our guests want to know the latest news about our local cetaceans but keeping track of that information can be challenging. There are lots of fantastic blogs out there, written by people who spend their life on the water and have wonderful stories to share, but there is no one place where someone can go to read the stories of the whales off our coast. That’s where Whale Tales comes in.
Our goal is to create a place where naturalists, researchers, and whale enthusiasts can all connect and share their whale encounter stories, creating a permanent library of whale tales. As interpreters we know that stories are powerful tools for connecting people to the animals that they’re seeing and the issues that they face. We also know that tapping into that emotional core at the heart of our guests is how we can best fulfill our mission to effect the conservation of aquatic life. The mission of Whale Tales is to provide a free, searchable, user friendly database of cetacean stories that can be used to create meaningful connections and promote conservation.
When I was starting to work out how to make this idea a reality I spent a lot of time talking to the staff at the BC Cetacean Sightings Network, and they helped us flesh out some of the ideas along with how this site could compliment the BCCSN. We aren’t as concerned with all of the other information BCCSN is looking for in a sighting log, we really just want to hear the stories and be able to share them with others. Though we may not collect all of the data BCCSN is looking for we will be sharing all of the stories we collect with them and putting them in touch with the storyteller in case they want to follow up.
The strength of our website can only be found in the tales we’re told. It is going to take a lot of work to build a valuable library and that’s why I’m asking for your help. Please consider sharing some of your favourite whale tales. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Thank-you very much to those of you who have already submitted some stories. We can’t wait to hear more!
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