Bridging Animal Culture, Conservation and Traditional Knowledge in the 21st Century

The 25th Biennial Conference of the Society of Marine Mammalogy, held in Perth, Western Australia, in November 2024, brought together over 1,300 participants from 80 countries. The theme, "Culture and Conservation: Fishing for Change," highlighted the intricate relationships and critical intersections between marine mammal conservation, fishing practices, and traditional knowledge, as well as animal welfare science and the burgeoning methodological advances in this field. I’ve been to several of these meetings over the decades, but this meeting was quite unlike any other. This time, a unique and rich combination of the traditional, contemporary and the novel were woven together, capturing a much broader ‘culture’ of conservation.

The conference opened with an exceptional welcome to country and sharing of ancient, traditional stories and wisdom about some of the local marine mammals. Dr. Jodi Edwards, a Yuin woman with Dharawal kinship, has been actively involved in projects, including the revival of the Dharawal language and the "Unbroken Whispers" project to explore the connections between marine life and Indigenous stories. Jodi reminded the participants of the ancient interweaving of lives and ancestry, and the multifaceted relationships and kinship that many Indigenous Australians have with species such as orca and bottlenose dolphins. Jodi explained some of these deep relationships and reminded participants that for her people, “Sea country has always been, and will always be, women’s business.”
 

Dr. Chels Marshall provided some wider context for these rich stories. Chels is a Gumbaynggirr saltwater woman from Nambucca Heads. She belongs to the Gumbaynggirr Jagun from the Baga Baga/Ngambaa clan and spoke powerfully to emphasize the significance of traditional knowledge systems, crucial for understanding and managing ecosystems in modern times in a way that respects and incorporates Indigenous cultural values and practice. Prof Helene Marsh also gave a compelling keynote address in this opening session, on the global status and trends of dugong – and often overlooked species among the charismatic megafauna. She emphasized the need for cooperation in conserving these vulnerable marine mammals and the importance of integrating local communities in these efforts.
 

Fishing for change

A central theme at the conference was the urgent need to address the impact of commercial fishing activities on marine mammals. Presentations and workshops focused on innovative solutions to reduce bycatch and entanglement, which pose a significant and constant threat to marine mammal species. Researchers shared information on new innovations and promising technologies, such as modified fishing gear and acoustic deterrents, aimed at
minimizing harmful interactions.
 

But the theme of fishing for change extended beyond commercial and recreational fishing practices and encompassed the wider (human) cultural dimension and the changes needed to develop a sustainable future for marine mammal populations. This theme, which skilfully wove together the need for a collaborative approach to conservation, resonated throughout the conference. From the formal presentations to side discussions, the need to foster a more inclusive, community-wide, approach to conservation challenges was emphasized. In her keynote address, Dr. Barb Taylor stressed the need to change human behaviour to achieve conservation goals, presenting case studies to illustrate how expanding conservation expertise to include social science can lead to more effective and sustainable outcomes. This need to collaborate and communicate was also emphasized in the cautionary tale provided by Prof Rochelle Constantine in her keynote address on the sad plight of the of the Māui dolphin in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Rochelle emphasized the dire consequences of inaction for this critically endangered species.

In other highlights, Ellen Garland’s keynote speech described her mission to unravel the cultural transmission of humpback whale song across the Pacific Ocean (and potentially beyond). Her research shows how the whales’ song spreads eastwards across the Pacific between breeding seasons, and sheds lights on how these complex displays are transmitted between individuals at different locations. Her work showed the rich cultural lives of these whales and the importance of using a ‘cultural lens’ for understanding baleen whale behaviour and conservation needs.
 

Philippa Brakes

Weaving together the conference’s main themes of culture and fishing, Mauricio Cantor’s address showcased unique, intergenerational human-dolphin cooperative fishing practices in Brazil. In this fascinating research, the behaviour of both fishers and dolphins has been extensively analysed and shows how both humans and dolphins benefit from these mutualistic interactions. However, he also stressed that such cooperative behaviour is fragile, emphasizing the need to safeguard these types of mutualistic cultural practices for the benefit of both species.
 

As the Society of Marine Mammalogy turns its gaze towards the many ecological challenges of the coming decades, including the implications of climate change on critical marine mammal breeding and feeding habitat, the stability of migratory corridors, and the integrity of social groups, Karen Stockin, the Chair of the Ethics Committee, challenged the Society to rethink animal welfare in a 21st-Century context. In her keynote address, she traced the evolution of animal welfare considerations from past to present and described how animal welfare has emerged as an inter-disciplinary scientific field. Her presentation highlighted the ethical dimensions of marine mammal conservation and the importance of integrating animal welfare considerations into all conservation strategies.

There were far too many outstanding contributions and novel insights to list here, from the keynote speeches describing insights from decades of fieldwork to posters presenting novel ideas for mitigating the effects of fishing gear, or the use of machine learning to analyse drone footage. In summary, the Society for Marine Mammalogy's biennial gathering in Perth was something a little more than an exchange of scientific ideas. It was a potent reminder for all stakeholders to work together to "fish for change," from the use of new technologies, to incorporating traditional knowledge, or recognising – and valuing - cultural behaviour in other species. The conference reminded us all that our common objective is to ensure the health and vitality of our oceans for generations to come, and that this can only be achieved by working together.

This theme of working together and incorporating different streams of cultural knowledge was precisely the motivation for a CEESP workshop undertaken earlier in the year in Oceania. The objective of the two-day workshop, held at the University of Auckland, with funding from UNESCO-NZ and Whale and Dolphin Conservations, was to explore the nexus between non-human culture, conservation and human-animal kinship. Scientists working on animal culture and local and Indigenous conservation practitioners developed a dialogue to explore the synergies between Indigenous understanding of biocultural diversity and more mainstream western conservation science. The aim was to share diverse perspectives on animal culture and human-animal kinship and work together to develop collaborations, storytelling, and citizen science projects that celebrate the cultural richness of the natural world.

As we head toward the World Conservation Congress in October 2025, the next year promises to be significant for expanding our understanding of animal culture and human-animal kinship. So please keep an eye out for future activities.

Philippa Brakes is the founding Co-chair of the Conservation of Animal Cultures Task Force, a brand-new Inter-Commission Task Force between IUCN CEESP and SSC.