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How Sea Watch Began
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The Sea Watch Foundation was founded as a charity and a limited company in 1991 by Dr Peter Evans, in association with Paul Vodden (who for several years had been involved in animal welfare and conservation, working for the RSPCA, Greenpeace and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society).
The aim was to create a more formal framework for the work of the Mammal Society’s Cetacean Group, set up by Dr Evans in 1973 to find out more about cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) in British and Irish waters by involving the public in the study of living wild animals. Previously, scientific knowledge was derived entirely from the examination of dead animals, either stranded ashore or the target of whaling activities.
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Today, Sea Watch is staffed by eight persons, based in Oxford and in our Welsh office in New Quay. However, the work could not be completed without the help of numerous hard working volunteers, both in the office and in the field. Most importantly, there is a network of regional coordinators and volunteer observers all around the UK coastline, dedicated to recording and reporting all sightings of whales, dolphins and porpoises.
The information gathered by the organisation and its network of observers has been the primary source of knowledge of the relative status and distribution of cetaceans around the British Isles.