Mission Statement
At Planet Whale we believe that if everyone got to see a whale or dolphin in the wild, the world really would be a better place. More people than ever: searching and rating trips; blown away by amazing encounters; inspired to help these awesome animals. Job done!
Principles
To see a whale or dolphin can be a life-changing experience, a holiday attraction, big business, or a conservation issue. Planet Whale embraces all of these.
Aimed at anyone who’s ever seen, or wants to see, whales and dolphins in the wild, Planet Whale is the world’s fun, inspiring online community, where commercial operators can reach the world’s whalewatchers - and be rated by them.
Providing everything you ever wanted to know, we aim to be values-driven and ethical, raising the standard for global whale watching, and inspiring millions of people to connect with nature and each other.
More info on people, positive solutions, and apple pie . . .
Global and local
Planet Whale is the global platform for everybody interested in whales and dolphins, bringing together enthusiastic groups of like-minded people from communities across the world.
Your community
Planet Whale is a community. We don’t control Planet Whale – you do! Planet Whale is the framework by which you can organise everything whaley in your life - your reviews, news, encounters, photos, friends, and even your business or charity. Planet Whale’s mission is to provide a network that is accessible to the global community through simple organisation, accessibility and great content provision.
Tools for change
We all share a common principle - that Planet Whale brings us together as the most powerful positive force for whales, dolphins and the people that share their lives with them. As Google once eloquently put it: “Give the proper tools to a group of people who like to make a difference, and they will.”
Working together
Planet Whale is a virtuous circle. We believe that by linking people together we can seek solutions to the issues that face whale watching and whale and dolphin conservation, and we can also help businesses and charities to be more successful and consumers more satisfied. It’s a neat trick and we know how to pull it off! Planet Whale encourages the highest ethical standards, which can only be good for people’s livelihoods and the whales themselves.
Openness and honesty
These are our watchwords. We’ll even tell you our embarrassing middle names or send you our worst grades at school if you ask nicely.
Profitable and ethical
Whale watching is an ecotourism industry that provides people with platforms (usually boats, occasionally planes, rarely submarines, never tanks) to see whales and dolphins in the wild. It’s unashamedly commercial, and so is Planet Whale. We are proud to be a business that leads with its ethics, and encourage others to do the same.
Good people deserve good things
We pledge that pastry, in all its forms, sweet and savoury, will always be an important part of our lives (we welcome home-baked pie deliveries to our office if we have helped you to have an amazing whale or dolphin experience).
Free
Planet Whale thinks take out! We endeavour to provide you with free information, images and other materials that you can use across the internet and beyond (check out our free, downloadable, Directory of Cetacean Conservation Organisations for example).
Understanding more
We aim to provide the best information about whales and dolphins available online, but we can only do that together. Part of the fascination with these animals is that they remain poorly understood, and our interactions with them often go undocumented. Together we can change that, to shed new light on their amazing world and our encounters with them.
Be positive
We do not dwell on problems. Instead we seek positive solutions. Planet Whale believes that many people are tired of hearing doom and gloom stories and feeling utterly helpless as a result. What’s the point of that when you can have a good time, get inspired by nature, then use Planet Whale to achieve something really positive for the environment! Together we will find out how.
Epilogue
Finally, what is the point of all this moralistic whale and dolphin banter? Should there really be more to an amazing whale and dolphin trip than having a good time? Well yes we believe there should, and it’s about the small matter of saving the planet – but hang on! Before you switch off in anticipation of yet another eco-lecture on how we should all recycle our underwear and fly by hang glider, listen up, ‘cos we have something different to say.
At the heart of Planet Whale is a belief that an encounter with a wild whale or dolphin reconnects us with the natural world in an amazing and powerful way. For one humbling moment we can be moved to tears or celebrating wildly as we stare through the thin veil of water that separates us from these magnificent animals.
Planet Whale understands that we all need such encounters to reawaken our sense of responsibility to the natural world; energising ourselves to act for the greater good. That is our first step – only when we have been inspired will we feel compelled to act.
