Homes for Whales

Google Earth Tour

WDCS is campaigning to create meaningful protection for 12 key habitats for whales and dolphins and the ecosystems they belong to and that help sustain them.

In recent months, with your support, we have focused on the proposed Hebrides Marine Reserve in Scotland, the proposed Southwest Australia Marine Reserve Network, and the proposed Ross Sea Region Marine Reserve.

We have now created a Google Earth “Homes for Whales and Dolphins” tour spotlighting all of the proposed 12 homes for whales and dolphins that allows you to move around the globe and find out more about what makes these locations so important and learn about the animals that live there.

Each site shows the proposed boundaries with pop-up cards giving a quick 3-4 photo slide show and basic facts about the area. Five of the 12 sites also have a few second video clip pop-up showing whales and dolphins in action.

The tour is available for free viewing or download in two different formats:

1. A 10-minute narrated youtube video best viewed in an HD setting that takes you around the world to find out more about the 12 areas and see what each one has. Watch it on our home page or YouTube.

2. A Google Earth layer or kmz file that shows the 12 areas in Google Earth with the pop-up photos and videos for the areas.

Simply download Google Earth, install the WDCS layer and then scroll on your computer or laptop to visit each area outlined in yellow. When you see the WDCS logo icon, click on it to see the photos. Some icons also have a small photo beside them; clicking on this photo enables you to see a video clip for the areas you are interested in.

If you already have Google Earth installed, simply download the 1.9 MB WDCS Homes for Whales kmz file and open it in Google Earth.

If you have not used Google Earth before, full instructions are available on our website.