Ian Rowlands & Dylan Walker are at the heart of the Planet Whale community. Despite repeated calls to ‘get a proper job’ they have spent much of their lives boarding boats from the Arctic to Antarctica, America to Australia, watching inspiring whales and dolphins, gossiping with skippers, feeling the sea spray on their faces and, best of all, being immersed in the most enthusiastic community on the planet – the whale watching public!
Dylan Walker
Dylan worked with Ian as a wildlife guide many years ago before leaving to found (“You’re crazy, it’ll never work” said Ian) the very successful Company of Whales, England’s first whale watching enterprise which pioneered trips across the – now famous – Bay of Biscay. He was co-founder and Chairperson of Organisation Cetacea (ORCA), a charity which champions conservation research on cetaceans in offshore areas, and was also a co-founder of WILDGuides, Britain’s only not-for-profit publisher with a commitment to conservation. He’s the author of numerous acclaimed books and reports on whales & dolphins, including:
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Whales and Dolphins of the North American Pacific with Graeme Cresswell and Todd Pusser, Harbour Publishing 2007
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Whales & Dolphins of the European Atlantic with Graeme Cresswell, WILDGuides 2008
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Whales and Dolphins of Great Britain: Where to Go and What to See with Alex Wilson, Cetacea Publishing 2007
Ian Rowlands
For 20 years Ian guided groups of people to see the whales, wildlife and wilderness landscapes of, well, in fact the world. Years ago he co-founded the Scottish-based tour company Speyside Wildlife, and is recognised as one of the UK’s best-known, most accomplished tour leaders, having shared his knowledge, as well as many awesome wildlife encounters, with thousands of people. He’s guided groups and watched whales across the Arctic, Antarctic, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa, North and South America.
Life-changing wilderness, well-being and whale watching experiences are his thing, and every year he gives a programme of acclaimed lectures on these topics. Passionate about the power of the natural world to make us feel good, he’s immersed in the world of personal and spiritual development, leadership and growth.
Hugh Callacher
Mentor, helper, supporter and friend. Hugh enabled us to launch this crazy project, and the vibe we still feel from his own bonkers antics has kept us going during the dark days! Check out The Missing Sock and you'll see what we mean!
Amanda Banks
Amanda is compiling a report on the world’s marine conservation charities for Planet Whale; researching non-profit conservation organisations who would benefit from a closer relationship with whale watchers and the whale watching industry.
She is a self-confessed newcomer to the world of cetaceans. Her past careers were in the arts world; as a dance performer touring with contemporary dance companies and a dance specialist within education. She has volunteered on conservation projects in between the dancing throughout the years and now, having lived the dance passion fully, she is eager to be immersed in all things whale-related. She also loves exploring psychological and philosophical realms, and writes short stories with a dream of publishing one day – watch this space.
Richard Stephens
Technical advisor, whale watcher, entreprener and woeful basketball player. When Richard talks, we all listen, cos his advise is like gold dust!
Honza Zicha
The man behind the machine! Honza, and his beinservices.com team built Planet Whale from its molten core to its bubbly, water loving surface! A tough job which he has always approached with gusto and a wonderful appetite for creating something special. During coffee breaks, he even lets us call him Honzey Baby!
Alex Wilson
Alex spends most of his time chatting up whale and dolphin watching operators in the hope of getting a free trip. It's a long shot because he would need to win the lottery to get to most of the exotic places he is contacting, but no matter! Thanks to Alex, Planet Whale now has the best database of whale and dolphin watch operators in the world - and it's growing all the time!
Kath Knight
Whale watch operator upwelling expert, Facebook guru, whale watching fanatic and all round lovely person. Planet Whale would merely be a directionless comet without her!
Nick Walters
When not saving lives on the beaches of Essex, England, Nick is our whale and dolphin sightings twitterer. He's sweet, kinda neat, and tweets for treats!
Lots of other lovely people
Planet Whale is on an ethical mission and we are so lucky that so many people share our vision and have been prepared to put in tons of their free time to kick Planet Whale into orbit. If we named them, the list would be so long that this website would crash and your computer would implode, but we really do appreciate all of their efforts. Muchos gracias kids!
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