{"id":3000,"date":"2021-08-03T06:33:52","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T04:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/?p=3000"},"modified":"2022-03-17T16:30:53","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T15:30:53","slug":"alejandro-balaguer-whales-are-giant-allies-in-environmental-conservation-and-growth-of-tourist-experiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/2021\/08\/03\/alejandro-balaguer-whales-are-giant-allies-in-environmental-conservation-and-growth-of-tourist-experiences\/","title":{"rendered":"Alejandro Balaguer: Whales are Giant Allies in Environmental Conservation and Growth of Tourist Experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The conservation of the environment, especially the\nmarine environment, has been closely linked to the conservation of whales. The\nocean giants have become one of the most important ambassadors to help raise\nawareness of how vital it is to protect natural resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our country has been blessed with an abundance of\nnature both on land and in our seas, allowing thousands of whales that come between\nthe months of July and October to give birth to their young. The journalist,\nphotographer, documentary maker and Executive Director of Albatros Media,\nAlejandro Balaguer, tells The Visitor that there is a reason why Panama is\nchosen by these mammals, and it is because of the cluster of islands with\nshallow inlets that exist throughout the Pacific , the ideal place for the\nmother whale to teach her calf how to survive in the seas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this reason, Panama is the best place to watch\nwhales in the world. Balaguer was so emphatic when considered how the country\ncan position itself on this issue before the world. And with good reasons he\nsays it, since our country has a large number of places to carry out this activity\nsuch as: The Pearl Archipelago, Pedasi, Gulf of Montijo, Coiba Marine Park,\nGulf of Chiriqui and\nthe Bay of Panama (a few kilometers from Panama City).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beauty Changes the World<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alejandro Balaguer comments with certainty, \u201cpeople\nare struck when they are told a tragic story of whales, but when there is a\nwhale jump in front of the bow of the boat\u2026 you have an ally for conservation\nforever\u201d. This is the premise when asked about how to make society aware of the\nprotection of this marine species vital to our life. The idea of \u200b\u200bthis\njournalist and documentary filmmaker that the more you know about something,\nthe more it is loved and protected, is true. The more people can see the wonder\nthat these animals are, the more they will want to know not only about the\nwhales but about the entire environment that surrounds them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allies of the Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Did you know that 75% of the carbon dioxide in\nthe atmosphere is not trapped by forests, but by the oceans?”.  A direct question that Balaguer asks, and with\ngood reason, here he explains that the largest carbon dioxide collector in the\nocean is phytoplankton. The whales feed on this microorganism and when they\ndefecate in the sea (which are tons), this fertilization helps to capture the\ncarbon dioxide that is being generated. Studies indicate that a whale can\nabsorb more than 33 tons of CO2 throughout its life. Another reason of the many\nmore, that there are to protect these marine beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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16 Million Tourists Travel to Watch Whales<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the figure that Balaguer shares with us when\nwe talk about the importance that should be given to this type of tourism, one\nthat touches the heart and the imagination in many ways. He also emphasizes\nthat it is not only for conservation but because this tourism generates a\nbillion and a half direct dollars worldwide. Panama, being the best destination\nto observe them, has to prepare before really promoting it, since the null or\nlittle organization, can push these giants to stop visiting us, as happened at\nMalaga Bay, Colombia. The negative economic and ecological effects can take\nyears before they return again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Balaguer\nrecommends organizing and getting certified, that way the sightings in Pedasi,\nGulf of Chiriqui, Las Perlas Archipelago and Gulf of Montijo can develop and\ngenerate economic growth. By having fishermen and locals as allies, it will\nmake it easier for them to take care of their natural resources. The journalist\nconcludes by saying that in Argentina, there is a very small town that\ngenerates 80 million dollars a year just from whale watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Museum and Training Center of Whales and the Sea<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balaguer thinks that apart from training, one must\nalso surprise, and in tourism both are important for the experience to be the\nbest. One project that the journalist has been working on is a Museum, with a\ntraining center for the sea and whales at Saboga island, in las Perlas\nArchipelago. A Project that would train and educate the new generations, relating\nall inhabitants of the island with this subject matter and generating economic\nincome, to a place that in the present day has economic and social problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Whales bring us closer to nature, they impact us\nin a positive way and the best thing is that they love Panama so much that they\narrive a few kilometers from our capital city. For this and many more reasons\nfor Balaguer, and the entire tourist community, Panama is the best place for\nwhale watching in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos courtesy: Alejandro Balaguer \u2013 Albatros Media<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The conservation of the environment, especially the marine environment, has been closely linked to the conservation of whales. The ocean giants have become one of the most important ambassadors to help raise awareness of how vital it is to protect natural resources. Our country has been blessed with an abundance of nature both on land […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[33],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3000"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3000"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3597,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3000\/revisions\/3597"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}