Always on
This project successfully funded on 13th January 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
This project successfully funded on 13th January 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
Join our mission to understand and protect the extraordinary dolphins, porpoises and whales of Sussex by contributing to our research boat.
The Sussex Dolphin Project is the only organisation monitoring and protecting local dolphins, porpoises, and occasionally, humpback and minke whales too.
But there’s a problem. We don’t have a boat!
What’s the need?
Currently, whenever we need to head out to sea to monitor dolphins, we must charter a boat by the hour. This limits how often and how long we can be on the water, as well as how far out we can go.
But just as significantly, it costs us thousands of pounds a year in hire fees. That’s money we would much rather spend on staff and equipment, not to mention raising awareness and campaigning to protect the incredible marine life just off our shores. We could do so much more with a research vessel of our own.
How can I help?
That part is simple. You can help by supporting our appeal and donating to our crowdfunder today, as much or as little as you can spare. It all counts.
If we can raise £80,000 from the good people and businesses of Sussex, we will finally be able to buy a research boat outright, as well as pay for a year’s harbour fees, plus the essential safety and navigation training for our staff.
£10 could pay for servicing essential safety equipment.
£25 could pay for half an hour of research, allowing us to find out more about these incredible dolphins.
£100 could cover the cost of a first aid course to ensure everyone stays safe while on board.
£300 could cover an advanced powerboat training course for a member of the Sussex Dolphin Project team.
£500 could cover our mooring fees for two months.
It would take us from an organisation dependent on charter companies, to one that can focus our efforts on understanding and protecting the animals off our shores.
What could a new boat do for local dolphins?
We could respond to local sightings quickly with our research vessel (i.e., a boat), and by spending more time at sea, we could gather better data, which would result in greater influence on government legislation and better partnerships with other organisations.
We could stay at sea longer, giving us more time to observe local dolphins, record their behaviour and check on their welfare.
We could get closer, enabling us to identify individual dolphins and whales, which makes it easier to track them.
We could be more visible, deterring irresponsible activity and other threats.
The time is now
We are seeing more dolphins, porpoises and whales than ever before. That means we need to be there to monitor and protect them. Reducing the risk of boat strikes, disturbance and displacement, while researching the impacts of other human threats.
Every month that goes by without a boat of our own, we spend more of our hard-earned cash on charter fees. And limits our potential to do the vital research and monitoring that will enable us to understand and protect our marine mammals.
Above all, the growing climate and nature emergency is making us all aware that we need to step up and protect local species - now. With a boat of our own, we could do so much more, at a time when nature needs us most.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made