Not so much about saving the animal as the ecosystem where they live – habitat destruction is the biggest threat to almost every animal on the planet
Dr Sarah Courbis is a Research Associate at Portland State University, specialising in whales and mammals in Hawaii.
This is the fifth in the Sustainable Lens #whaleofasummer series recorded during the Biennial Conference of the Marine Mammals Society. Sarah’s attendance at the conference was provided by the Conservation Council of Hawaii and Honua (Hoe-New-ah) Consulting.
We don’t need to anthropomorphise to make them interesting
They are really amazing social animals with lots of cool behaviours and intricate relationships
(Am I an activist?). I wouldn’t say that. I do have opinions. But as a scientist it is really important for me to go into a situation and do my research without having a desired outcome – I just want to see what’s true. Whether or not that supports my opinion, maybe I’ll need to change my opinion. I don’t think activist is a good way to describe my approach to things, but I would say I am an environmentalist, and I do think that it is important that we do understand and take care of our environment – and I’m hoping to do my little part to help that.