The Sister Sanctuary Program, managed by Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, was established in 2006 to facilitate the effective management of a shared population of humpback whales across jurisdictional boundaries throughout its migratory range, from feeding and nursery grounds in the Gulf of Maine to breeding and calving areas in the Wider Caribbean region. To date, the program includes five member countries — Dominican Republic, Bermuda, the French Antilles, Caribbean Netherlands and USA—and is a pioneering program in support of the United Nations Environment Program’s Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife’s Marine Mammal Action Plan for the Wider Caribbean Region (UNEP/SPAW-MMAP). The initiative has forged the marine mammal protected areas network (MaMPAN, est. 2015), the first such international partnership in the world protecting one of the ocean’s most iconic species throughout its North Atlantic migratory range.
The multi-sanctuary, science-based program has increased the area of protection for North Atlantic humpback whales from a previous 2,180 square kilometers within the Sanctuary to a total area of 669,429 square kilometers combined among the sanctuaries over the past ten years, making it one of the largest networks of coordinated marine conservation areas in the world. This successful cooperation was achieved through education, conservation and science exchanges and by improving communications, aligning priorities, and enhancing resource-sharing between sister sanctuary partners/nations, with support and involvement from more than 60 national and international agencies as well as other levels of government and a wide array of NGO partners. The Sister Sanctuary Program provides a model for leadership to catalyze action and link assets and resources of governments/nations, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs to focus attention on the need to manage and protect humpback whales beyond their borders.
The Sister Sanctuary Program, managed by Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, was established in 2006 to facilitate the effective management of a shared population of humpback whales across jurisdictional boundaries throughout its migratory range, from feeding and nursery grounds in the Gulf of Maine to breeding and calving areas in the Wider Caribbean region.