National Whale Count in the Netherlands for the first time

Birds, bees, butterflies, dragonflies, frogs, or moles - nature lovers can participate in counts on many weekends. This Saturday, the National Whale Count will be added to that.

Volunteers can search for whales at 12 locations along the Dutch coast. They live in the North Sea, the Wadden Sea, and the Oosterschelde. The whale counters can participate from land or on boats in the Oosterschelde.

The Dutch waters are home to many harbor porpoises, humpback whales, white-beaked dolphins, and bottlenose dolphins. If the water is not moving too much, they are easy to see, reports organizer Stichting Rugvin. They hope that the count will raise public awareness of "the wealth of our seas."

According to Frank Zanderink, the foundation's director, the average Dutch person knows very little about whales. "There are thousands of them in the North Sea. Dolphins and porpoises are also cetacean species." He is therefore all the more pleased that animal counting is becoming increasingly popular. Zanderink tells NOS he expects hundreds of volunteers for today's whale count.

The count is a great way to raise awareness for the animal he loves. "It's important that we counter the ignorance of our seafaring nation," he explains.

The spotting locations are around the Eastern and Western Scheldt, near Vlissingen, and along the North Sea coast near Den Helder, IJmuiden, and Hoek van Holland.