Written by Cristóbal González Comell a and Michael Fishbach Our research team, consisting of our founders, Michael Fishbach and Heather Watrous, along with their son Galen who is this year’s main photographer, and Cristóbal González our Regional Director in Latin America, have had a highly productive year photo-identifying Blue Whales among other great whale species that inhabit the rich waters of the Sea of Cortez or Gulf of California as it known in other parts of the wor

Written by Hélène Smidt In the last two months, we’ve received membership requests from ship owners, ship managers, and weather-routing companies who want to collaborate and integrate whale data into voyage planning on more than 10,000 vessels. At the same time, additional whale data is coming in from all over the world, helping us map whale-sensitive zones more accurately than ever. That means our two application heroes - Erik Roscam Abbing  and Werner huysmans - have been w

Written by Anne Louise Burdett When a whale breaches, rising through the surface of the water, an arching body striking the horizon line, exhaling its misty breath into the atmosphere, something shifts in us. Time slows, awe takes over. We feel connected to these animals, drawn not only by their immensity, but by their acute intelligence and their memory. Their presence is an essential part of the shared story of all life on Earth.   Whales are planetary architects- keystones

Over the past weeks, the Whale Guardians initiative has taken important steps forward through direct engagement, operational implementation, and strengthened collaboration across key South American ports. The MV Lowlands Pelikaan , a vessel from our valued member Cobelfret, sailed along the Chilean coastline with our Whale Guardian Capt. Sveto on board during a period marked by increased whale migration and a rise in reported ship strikes. This context made our mission partic

Espaço Vida Marinha, part of the Municipal Tourism Department of São Sebastião, welcomed the crew of the cargo ship Lowlands Pelikaan, arriving from Chile. During the voyage from Antofagasta to São Sebastião, the crew took part in practical training provided by the company Whale Guardians, under the coordination of Captain Sveto. The training covered measures to prevent collisions between ships and whales—one of the greatest risks to these animals—such as reducing speed in sp

Vports Initiative Uses Port Monitoring System to Prevent Vessel Collisions with Humpback Whales Along the Coast of Espírito Santo. Vports began the year with national recognition in the field of sustainability. The company won second place at the 2025 ANTAQ Award , in the Innovative Initiatives  category, with a whale protection project developed in partnership with the Instituto Baleia Jubarte  and the international organization Great Whale Conservancy , in the waters off Es

Michael started his seafaring career at the age of 17 when he got accepted at the Antwerp Maritime Academy (Belgium). He graduated Magna Cum Laude as a Master in the Nautical Sciences in 2006 after which he immediately went to sea pursuing his childhood dream of becoming a ship's captain. His father had been a seaman and ever since Michael was a small kid, it was all boats and water that attracted him. His seamansbook counts more than 40 ocean-going trips all over the world,

For our  #MeetTheTeam  series, this week we are introducing  Erik Roscam Abbing . Erik co-developed together with the amazing Werner huysmans our application that plots whale data and vessel data on a map and let us verify how our members perform in whale sensitive areas. Their efforts have been recognized with a Blue Innovation Award in 2025 from  De Blauwe Cluster . Erik is a design and innovation strategist who, throughout his career, has helped countless organizations bec

Standing in the very same room at the Royal Geographical society in London, where Sir Richard Burton described his role in the discovery of the source of the Nile, and Darwin illuminated the world with proofs for the theory of evolution by natural selection, Michael Fishbach, CEO & Co-Founder of Whale Guardians, in his usual tone of inquiry, encouraged the crowd of biologists and conservationists to work together.  A fragment of the presentation. "How many of you consider you

👑 On the 28th of January our CEO and Co-Founder  Michael Fishbach  had the honour of meeting King Charles in a Shipping Convening organised by  Sustainable Markets Initiative .  The convening brought together CEOs from ship owners, logistics, ports, data analytics, insurance, banks and satellite monitoring to collaborate on innovative financing, risk-sharing, and market mechanisms that make sustainable shipping commercially viable and attractive. We were pleased to see that

Written by Cristóbal González Comella, our Head of Project Leadership & Fundraising for Latin America & Capt. Sveto Todorov, our Board Member WG Europe & Maritime Industry Liaison Fin Whale season is in full bloom right now in Antofagasta Bay! Thanks to the invaluable work of the biologists who collaborate with Whale Guardians, significant amount of data is being collected  at this moment. A team led by Ana María García Cegarra , a cetacean conservationists and assistant prof

18 months of scientific research study completed on the whales seasonally present in the general entry area to the port region of Ensenada, Mexico. Local biologists, led by Jasivi Arcos-Dias under permit with Professor Gustavo Cardenas , have completed 18 months of 4x monthly day-long surveys, all done under the guidance of Michael Fishbach. The conclusions are that a number of great whale species are at great risk from transiting ships unaware that the area is critical to w

For our  #MeetTheTeam  series, we are kicking off by introducing Captain  Svetoslav Todorov , who, among other contributions, supports the development of training and educational programs for seafarers worldwide Sveto is a Board Member of Whale Guardians EU and has been an active volunteer with the organization for nearly four years. A graduate of the Maritime Academy, he has sailed worldwide on cargo and passenger vessels, serving as a ship’s captain. He remains closely conn

Written by Gregory Vogt - our African Regional Coastal Representative Southern Africa is a globally significant marine-mammal hotspot. From the cold, nutrient-rich Benguela system along South Africa’s west coast to the warm, current-driven waters of the east coast, our seas support an exceptional diversity of whales and dolphins. This includes large migratory baleen whales, resident coastal species, and increasingly documented superpods — unusually large aggregations of anima

BNP Paribas, one of Europe’s largest banks and a leader in financing a sustainable blue economy, is engaging with Whale Guardians to support collaboration across industry, science, the public and private sector. This has included closely working together on the UN Ocean Conference in Nice where the bank and Whale Guardians' team convened expert roundtable discussions across the shipping sector to discuss how industry and marine scientists can share best practices and support

Cetus Maritime Joins The League Of Whale Guardians™ in a Landmark Conservation Effort

The Team Welcomes Transpetrol to the League of Whale Guardians™ in Support of Global Whale Conservation Efforts

Whale Guardianstm proudly announces their partnership with Bogerd Martin and Luxspace. The partnership sets out to provide shipping lines, p

Our team is thrilled to introduce the Anglo-Eastern Univan Group (“Anglo-Eastern”) as the newest official member of the League of Whale Guar

A few weeks ago I attended the CLIA Cruising Week in Genoa to represent Whale Guardians™ at the world’s leading cruising industry conference