Lindblad Expeditions partners with HWDT to protect Scottish whales and dolphins.
The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) is excited to announce a return to our partnership with Lindblad Expeditions in 2023, to support our work protecting whales and dolphins on Scotland’s west coast.
HWDT and Lindblad Expeditions have worked together since 2017. In that time, travellers visiting Scotland have donated over £77,000 to support HWDT’s conservation work.
This is an incredible sum which has made a huge difference to our work to monitor and protect the populations of whales, dolphins and porpoises that visit seasonally or are resident within the Hebrides.
Following a brief hiatus in the partnership from 2020 – 2022, necessitated by the global pandemic, we are delighted to be back working together for a fourth year in 2023.
Through our collaboration, we will be working to raise awareness of HWDT’s work and encourage Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic (LEX-NG) guests to get involved and support our conservation projects.
HWDT’s expert staff join selected expeditions, when they visit our home base in Tobermory, to provide talks for LEX-NG travellers about whales in the Hebrides, cultural history, and our conservation efforts.
“It’s a real pleasure to come on board and share our work with LEX-NG guests on board the Scottish expeditions, providing information on the conservation work they are helping support, alongside the interconnected heritage of the sea and the Hebridean people,”
Guests are invited to support HWDT’s marine conservation efforts by donating while travelling aboard Lord of the Glens during a week-long voyage. To thank guests for their support, those who donate to HWDT are gifted a future travel voucher towards any future LEX-NG expedition, in the amount of $250 or $500 per traveller, depending upon the size of their contribution.
“Whales and dolphins are vital to the health of our seas and oceans and there has never been a more critical time to protect them. With the support of LEX-NG passengers, HWDT can monitor and protect cetaceans in areas of critical habitat within Scotland’s Hebridean seas,”
“We are thrilled to use the platform of our ship-based expeditions to further Responsible Exploration efforts around the globe,” said Amy Berquist, Vice President of Conservation, Education, and Sustainability for Lindblad Expeditions. “We are committed to harnessing travel as a positive force for good, and focusing our efforts in priority areas of Conservation and Environment, Community and Culture, and Science and Education. Working with Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust allows us to inspire our guests in each of these pillars and enhance their travel experience by providing an authentic way to engage with and leave a positive mark on conservation priorities in coastal Scotland.”
At a time of global climate emergency and biodiversity loss across the UK and globally, HWDT’s mission to protect our uniquely rich Hebridean seas has never been more critical. We would like to thank LEX-NG guests for their generous support and contributions towards this mission – totalling £20,560 (or $25,700) in Summer 2023 alone.