Whaling tradition along the Cantabrian coast: public perception towards cetaceans and its importance for marine conservation

The future of marine citizenship is now: Cetacean conservation in the eyes of young Spanish citizens

“…In addition, even though more than half of the interviewed students believed that the main target species is currently endangered as a consequence of whaling, only 11% selected the right option when asked about the common name of this species. This lack of knowledge about cetaceans and their related conservation concerns has been observed in previous studies conducted with both young and old citizens from different countries, such as Scotland, the United States, Aruba, India and Spain (Scott & Parsons, 2004;Barney, Mintzes & Yen, 2005;Luksenburg & Parsons, 2014;Donahue, 2016;Naylor & Parsons, 2018;García-Gallego et al, 2021). In accordance with Steel et al (2005), who investigated the levels of public knowledge concerning the ocean in the United States, our findings indicate that there is low awareness of the marine environment.…”

“…Furthermore, more than half of them asserted that the current measures to protect whales and dolphins are not sufficient. Similarly, previous studies into young and adult citizens' perceptions of marine mammals found high support for cetacean conservation among the general public (Scott & Parsons, 2005;Howard & Parsons, 2006;Luksenburg & Parsons, 2014;Naylor & Parsons, 2018;Giovos et al, 2019;García-Gallego et al, 2021). Our findings indicate that knowledge about cetaceans and their conservation issues is not an essential prerequisite for positive attitudes towards their protection, as was suggested by Naylor & Parsons (2018).…”

“…The results of this study show that young citizens from the Cantabrian coast have higher levels of knowledge about the history of whaling in Spain than young citizens from inland regions. This finding was also observed in adults (García‐Gallego et al, 2021). The presence of illustrations related to whaling on the current coats of arms of several towns (Campos‐Santacana & Peñalba‐Otaduy, 2000), as well as in museums, exhibitions and libraries, among others, might have an influence on the cultural imprint of whaling in the north of Spain.…”

“…The results of this study show that young citizens from the Cantabrian coast have higher levels of knowledge about the history of whaling in Spain than young citizens from inland regions. This finding was also observed in adults (García-Gallego et al, 2021). The Similarly, previous research studies found that young people generally have more environmentally positive attitudes than older people (Boeve-de Pauw & Van Petegem, 2010;Zuo et al, 2015;Donahue, 2016).…”

“…However, and contrary to what was observed in adults, living in areas with or without a whaling tradition did not result in different attitudes towards cetaceans and whaling in young citizens. In the case of adults, participants from the Cantabrian coast showed less positive attitudes with respect to cetacean conservation (García‐Gallego et al, 2021), whereas in the case of young citizens no significant differences were found between coastal and non‐coastal areas regarding this issue. This shows a shift towards more positive attitudes concerning cetacean conservation in young citizens with respect to adults, especially those residing on the Cantabrian coast.…”