Courtney S. Vail

• B.S. Wildlife Biology; M.S. Psychology
• Research Director at Lightkeepers Foundation

An out of habitat (OOH) marine mammal is an individual found outside of their natural range, e.g., an Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) along the coastline of mainland Europe, or an individual within their natural range in habitat that is not optimal for their health or survival due to a lack of suitable conditions and/or because of pote...

The Caribbean, a region celebrated for its rich biodiversity and vibrant ecosystems, faces an escalating threat from wildlife crime. This paper seeks to illuminate the complexities and implications of such illicit activities, ranging from illegal fishing to trafficking and poaching, that jeopardise the region’s ecological balance. As the Caribbean'...

The Action Plan for the Conservation of Marine Mammals in the Wider Caribbean Region (MMAP) was adopted in 2008 by Contracting Parties under the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) of the Cartagena Convention, administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment). After more than a decade of MMAP-re...

Through Haiti Ocean Project (HOP), Haitian youth are on the frontlines of marine conservation, building relationships with fishing communities, securing cooperative management agreements with Marine Protected Areas, documenting directed and incidental take of marine mammals and other marine life, and intervening to save injured wildlife. The missio...

The document was authored by Courtney Vail and Monica Borobia as consultants to the SPAW-RAC in support of the SPAW Protocol of the Cartagena Convention and under the auspices of the Caribbean Environment Program, United Nations Environment Program. After more than a decade of Marine Mammal Action Plan (MMAP)-related programmatic work under the S...

This report analyses the effectiveness of the various methods and the reasons for their implementation in different jurisdictions, concluding that a Fins Naturally Attached (FNA) policy, when accompanied by adequate monitoring and surveillance measures to ensure compliance with the regulation, is now well-established as the only effective method to...

The dolphin drive hunts that occur annually in Taiji, Japan have received global condemnation on both welfare and sustainability grounds. The considerable ethical and political controversy surrounding these and other small cetacean hunts serves as just one example of a contemporary issue challenging experts in the field of marine mammal science. Th...

Drive hunts are a method to herd, capture and kill small cetaceans (whales and dolphins) in coastal waters of some countries including Japan and the Faroe Islands. In Japan, these methods are often associated with the acquisition of live dolphins for international marine parks and aquaria. During the hunts, dolphins are herded by a flotilla of fish...

The Haiti Ocean Project is a multinational initiative between educators, field researchers and nonprofit organizations who seek to document, raise awareness and protect the marine mammals and marine environment of Haiti.

In this chapter, we discuss in detail an example of a small toothed whale hunt, with the aim of illustrating the methods used and the welfare questions that can arise in these cetacean hunts. Annually in Japanese waters, small cetaceans are killed in drive hunts with quotas set by the government of Japan. The Taiji Fishing Cooperative in Japan has...

The panhandle region of the Gulf of Mexico is known by scientists, regulatory agencies and conservation organizations as a “hotbed” area of dolphin harassment. Interactions between humans and wild dolphins routinely occur through close vessel approaches or through direct contact associated with commercial or recreational fisheries, swim-with, or fe...

Annually in Japanese waters, small cetaceans are killed in "drive hunts" with quotas set by the government of Japan. The Taiji Fishing Cooperative in Japan has published the details of a new killing method that involves cutting (transecting) the spinal cord and purports to reduce time to death. The method involves the repeated insertion of a metal...

It is estimated that each year within Japanese waters up to 22,000 small whales, dolphins and porpoises (known collectively as 'small cetaceans') are killed in hunts that involve a range of techniques. The Taiji Fishing Cooperative, Japan has published the details of a new killing method which involves cutting (transecting) the spinal cord. Analysi...

Potential harassment and adverse biological impacts to bottlenose dolphins by commercial viewing activities is a concern worldwide, and especially in the United States where feeding and harassment of wild marine mammals is illegal under the US Marine Mammal Protection Act. The voluntary, multi-stakeholder program known as Dolphin SMART is an attemp...

Solitary, sociable dolphins & other odontocetes. Report from Workshop 2005.