International Day of the Baltic Harbour Porpoise

Bonn, 15 May 2020 – The International Day of the Baltic Harbour Porpoise (IDBHP) is being celebrated this year on Sunday, 17 May.  The COVID-19 outbreak will certainly pose a challenge to event organizers, who will have to devise activities that conform to the restrictions on public gatherings.  However, if the experience of World Migratory Bird Day is anything to go by, there could be some innovative virtual offerings helping to raise awareness of the precarious status of the Baltic’s only regular cetacean inhabitant.

The ASCOBANS Secretariat has, as in previous years, created a dedicated event section on its Facebook page, where Baltic countries can register their #IDBHP 2020 events and post pictures of the activities that they have organized.  More information on IDBHP is available on the ASCOBANS website.

The conservation status of the Baltic and Iberian populations of the Harbour Porpoise was discussed at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species, which took place in Gandhinagar, India on 17-22 February 2020.  Parties adopted a Concerted Action for these populations, which will be available on the CMS website.

Originally scheduled to take place in Gothenburg, the next meeting of the Jastarnia Group, which oversees the implementation of the conservation plans for the Baltic and the Inner Danish Waters, Belt and Kattegat, will now be held virtually using teleconferencing technology.  The original dates (8-9 June 2020) have been retained. More information on the meeting can be found here, where documents will be posted as soon as they become available.

 

Last updated on 15 May 2020

Type: 
News item
Region: 
Baltic Sea
Species: 
Phocoena phocoena
Species group: 
Marine mammals