Saving the Gray Whale: People, Politics, and Conservation in Baja California (Society, Environment, and Place) - Softcover

Dedina, Serge

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0816518467 ISBN 13: 9780816518463

Publisher: University of Arizona Press, 2000

Synopsis

Once hunted by whalers and now the darling of ecotourists, the gray whale has become part of the culture, history, politics, and geography of Mexico's most isolated region. After the harvesting of gray whales was banned by international law in 1946, their populations rebounded; but while they are no longer hunted for their oil, these creatures are now chased up and down the lagoons of southern Baja California by whalewatchers. This book uses the biology and politics associated with gray whales in Mexican waters to present an unusual case study in conservation and politics. It provides an inside look at how gray whale conservation decisions are made in Mexico City and examines how those policies and programs are carried out in the calving grounds of San Ignacio Lagoon and Magdalena Bay, where catering to ecotourists is now an integral part of the local economy.

More than a study of conservation politics, Dedina's book puts a human face on wildlife conservation. The author lived for two years with residents of Baja communities to understand their attitudes about wildlife conservation and Mexican politics, and he accompanied many in daily activities to show the extent to which the local economy depends on whalewatching. "It is ironic," observes Dedina, "that residents of some of the most isolated fishing villages in North America are helping to redefine our relationship with wild animals. Americans and Europeans brought the gray whale population to the brink of extinction. The inhabitants of San Ignacio Lagoon and Magdalena Bay are helping us to celebrate the whales' survival." By showing us how these animals have helped shape the lifeways of the people with whom they share the lagoons, Saving the Gray Whale demonstrates that gray whales represent both a destructive past and a future with hope.

About this title

Review:

The peninsula of Baja California is a place little known even within Mexico, a place, until very recently, of isolated fishing villages and single-lane roads. Now great fleets of fishing boats from all over the world, coupled with a gigantic saltworks and other industrial development, threaten the waters off Baja California--a favored habitat of the gray whale, a creature that has received much attention in recent years.

Once endangered throughout much of its range, the gray whale has made a comeback thanks to international efforts to preserve the species. Ecologist Serge Dedina discusses how those efforts can be extended to Baja California, where much of the whale's habitat is threatened. Dedina proposes ways to involve local fishing people in whale conservation, by, for instance, developing a locally owned, whale-watching-based tourist industry of the sort that brings millions of dollars to California and British Columbia, other stops along the gray whale's migratory route. "Conservation," Dedina writes in this engaging study, "is more than a political process. It intersects with the way people live, perceive, and interact with the animals and landscape around them." His book, full of useful lessons, will be of much interest to conservationists working with animals and habitats of all kinds, as well as to anyone concerned about the gray whale's future. --Gregory McNamee

About the Author:

Serge Dedina grew up in San Diego and has spent the last twenty years traipsing the back roads and surfing the remote coastline of the Baja California peninsula. The former director of The Nature Conservancy's Baja California/Sea of Cortez Program, he is currently Executive Director of WildCoast, an international conservation team preserving the last coastal wildlands of the Californias.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0816518467
• ISBN 13: 9780816518463
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 186