Timor seeks help to protect whale, dolphin hotspot

Source: Associated Press

DILI, East Timor (AP) — The government of East Timor says it plans to establish a national park to protect a bounty of dolphins and whales — some of them endangered species — recently discovered mingling and feeding off the coast of Asia's youngest country.

But officials say they will need foreign assistance to preserve the area and develop eco-tourism in one of the few places in the world with such numbers and variety of large sea mammals, thanks to its unusual geography and, possibly, to years of relative isolation.

Aerial surveys of the hotspot by scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science recorded "an exceptional diversity and abundance" of dolphins and whales, according to findings recently handed to officials in Dili.

"What you have in East Timor is a period of the year where there really is an incredible diversity of cetacean species, of dolphins in particular, small whales and even large whales," lead scientist Mark Meekan said. "That makes Timor quite unique."



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