Dolphin monitoring

Dolphin Tourism Monitoring

Understanding dolphin tourism to make it more sustainable.

Dolphin tourism is an important part of life around Mnemba, supporting many local families and businesses. But as more boats and visitors enter the water, understanding how tourism affects the dolphins people come to see is becoming increasingly relevant.

We observe dolphin encounters and the interactions between dolphins and tourist boats. This helps us better understand where tourism may be causing disturbance and how these interactions can be improved.

By combining what we observe on the water with the knowledge of local communities, we aim to identify good practices, highlight where improvements are needed and support a more responsible approach to dolphin tourism.

Eco Guide Training Program

Working with local guides to make dolphin tourism more responsible.

Local boat captains and guides play a key role in shaping how people experience dolphins around Mnemba. Our Eco Guide Training Programme works directly with them to strengthen their knowledge of dolphin behaviour, marine conservation and responsible tourism.

Through training, practical sessions and field activities, guides learn how to share their knowledge with visitors while reducing the impact of tourism on dolphins. The programme also brings together local experience and conservation knowledge, helping guides develop practical approaches that can be used in their daily work.

Our goal is to support local guides as ambassadors for responsible dolphin tourism.

Dolphin Photo Identification

Building knowledge to better protect the dolphins around Mnemba.

Every dolphin has a unique dorsal fin, with differences in shape and markings that allow us to recognise individuals. Thanks to our collaboration with The Mermaid Experience, we use footage collected since 2019 to identify individual dolphins.

By documenting individual dolphins over time, we can better understand the dolphin population around Mnemba and how it changes. As our catalogue grows, repeated sightings help strengthen the dataset we have on individual dolphins and their presence around Mnemba.

This information contributes to our wider dolphin conservation work and supports local communities and authorities in finding better ways to protect dolphins while managing tourism around Mnemba.