On November 15th, 2019 (Friday), the 2019 Okinawa Humpback Whale Conference: Sharing Knowledge about Dolphin and Whale Watching in Different Regions was held at Okinawa Prefectural Museum and Art Museum.

The purpose of this conference was to share and introduce the research findings of cetacean surveys (whales and dolphins) conducted by the Okinawa Churashima Foundation to local whale watching operators, and by contributing this information aid their whale watching businesses. This conference has been conducted each year since 2013.

At this 7th conference, we invited Kazunobu Kogi, secretary general of the Mikura Island Tourist Association. For more than 20 years, Kazunobu Kogi has conducted ecological surveys of the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins as well as managed and operated dolphin watching. He gave a lecture on how to create guidelines, and safety management when running a whale watching business based on his years of experience.

Okinawa Churashima Foundation shared the findings of its research surveys and gave lectures regarding the ecology of cetaceans in the waters of the Ryukyu Islands. There were many discussions, and opinions were exchanged between more than 70 participants from various places including Okinawa, Amami Oshima and Kagoshima Prefecture.

Okinawa Churashima Foundation aims to continue to contribute to local tourism by actively exchanging ideas, gathering information, and connecting with other areas to conduct surveys.