Volunteering in Croatia – Having a Blast with Dolphins!

The Bottlenose Dolphin Conservation project I took part of was a blast for me! You can be a volunteer and have an amazing experience with other volunteers from all around the world and with a lot of fun.

The tasks for the dolphins comprised the bulk of the daily work: every volunteer gets a task they have to do every day. Before going out on the boat in the sea, we had two presentations about dolphins and on dolphin conservation. When we first saw the dolphins on the sea everyone was excited about it. It was such an amazing moment when the first dolphin jumped out of the water. We also saw a dolphin with her calf. That was a really amazing and emotional moment.

There are about 150 dolphins, and each dolphin has its name. When we helped in the analysis we compared the dorsal fins to know which dolphins we have seen. When we were at sea there were a lot of dolphin watching boats that drive very close to the animals, compared to the research boat which always stays a distance away to minimize disturbances to the dolphins. When they drive so close to the dolphins they don’t jump anymore and we can’t see them again because they are scared. It’s really important to solve the problem so the dolphins can live in peace.

Overall, it was so much fun to work in a group of international volunteers and to learn about the biology of dolphins, other languages and volunteering for nature!