We hold the harbour porpoises literally in our hands

SOS Dolfijn go out 25 to 40 times a year to assist cetaceans in distress. PHOTOS: STICHTING SOS DOLFIJN

Stichting SOS Dolfijn provides emergency care for cetaceans that have stranded or are at risk of stranding, and is also committed to research and education in order to protect populations of these animals in the North Sea as effectively as possible.

‘When a report comes in of a stranded animal that is still alive, every second counts’, says Annemarie van den Berg, who has worked at Stichting SOS Dolfijn since 2006 and has been its director since 2020,¹ speaking during a conversation in February this year. The two dolphin ambulances parked outside are on standby around the clock, and there is every chance that Van den Berg may have to leave at a moment’s notice. ‘We go out 25 to 40 times a year, but the busy stranding season has now begun. In winter, harbour porpoises need more food to maintain their blubber layer in the cold water, and the calves born last summer have to fend for themselves. That, combined with sometimes stormy weather, means we encounter more stranded cetaceans at this time of year’, she explains.

Dolfinarium
The temporary care of cetaceans from the North Sea began at Dolfinarium Harderwijk. When a harbour porpoise stranded on the North Holland coast in the 1960s, everyone looked expectantly to the dolphinarium – after all, they had similar animals there. ‘The animal was transported by taxi to Harderwijk’, Van den Berg recounts. Later, a specially designed care facility was built on the grounds of the marine mammal park. In 2004, the rehabilitation work was placed under a separate foundation: Stichting SOS Dolfijn was thus established.

Confusion
When the collaboration agreement with the dolphinarium came to an end in 2016, the foundation chose not to renew it. Van den Berg: ‘We had to leave. Our objectives and visions no longer aligned. The accommodation in Harderwijk also caused confusion, because people thought that donations might inadvertently end up in the dolphinarium’s general pot.’ What followed was what Van den Berg describes as ‘a challenging process’, during which SOS Dolfijn searched for a new partnership and, despite having no care facility for nearly five years, continued to provide emergency assistance at strandings.

‘We had to leave. Our objectives and visions no longer aligned’

Dierpark Hoenderdaell proved to be the ideal partner, and in 2022 SOS Dolfijn opened the doors of a brand-new education and care centre on the estate in Anna Paulowna. ‘Stichting Leeuw is based here too. As three organisations, we share a joint office and split the cost of one person for HR, one for finance, and we also occasionally exchange animal keepers. It works very well – very efficiently’, Van den Berg says with a laugh. Visitors are welcome every day and can follow the entire care process through the large windows of the centre. ‘Everything is visible to the public, except the operating theatre. We think it is important to be as transparent as possible and to involve people in our work. The glass is of course extra sound-dampening, so that the animals are not disturbed by it’, she emphasises. ‘SOS Dolfijn has the highest success rate in the world (just above 50 per cent) for small cetaceans released back into the wild after care’, Van den Berg says with evident pride. She explains that, in addition to emergency care, SOS Dolfijn is also committed to population protection of cetaceans in the North Sea through scientific research and education. Since 2023, the foundation has even had its own research institute. ‘Harbour porpoises and other whales are very difficult to study in the wild, but we hold them quite literally in our hands’, says Van den Berg.

Harbour porpoise faeces
For example, the team tests the hearing of every harbour porpoise before it is released back to sea. ‘If a cetacean becomes deaf, it can no longer survive. Given the increasing levels of anthropogenic noise, it is valuable to know how the hearing of the animals in our care is holding up.’ The team also investigates, among other things, how long prey remains detectable in harbour porpoise faeces, conducts research into age determination based on X-rays, and studies whether harbour porpoises can detect electromagnetic fields. Behavioural studies are also an option, according to Van den Berg. ‘Cameras are already mounted above the pools. We are always open to new research collaborations and to biology students who come to assist.’

¹Annemarie van den Berg formally stepped down from SOS Dolfijn on 28 June, on Wadden Sea Day.

ORGANISATION: Stichting SOS Dolfijn
PRODUCT: protection and conservation of cetaceans in the North Sea
STRUCTURE: Public Benefit Organisation (ANBI)
LOCATION: Anna Paulowna
NUMBER OF STAFF: 6 paid employees, 80 relatively regular volunteers
YEAR FOUNDED: 2004
OPERATING BUDGET: €250,000 to €300,000 per year, funded entirely by grants and subsidies
WEBSITE: www.sosdolfijn.nl