This year’s museum Christmas Lecture will be delivered by Dr Peter Evans, a renowned world expert on the conservation of whales and dolphins, on Wednesday 19th December at 7pm at the John Mackintosh Hall.

Dr Evans is Director of the UK research organisation, Sea Watch Foundation, concerned with monitoring European cetacean populations particularly around the British Isles. He is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Ocean Sciences, University of Bangor Wales. He has worked on marine mammals (and birds) for over four decades and is deeply involved in their research and conservation at an international level, advising governments, the European Commission and United Nations.

The title of Dr Evans’ talk is “The Conservation of European Whales and Dolphins”. Europe has a great diversity of whales and dolphins, with around one-third of the world's species occurring in its waters. However, human activities in the coastal zone of Europe in particular place severe pressures upon marine mammals. Some of these lead to direct mortality such as hunting and entanglement in fishing gear; others such as pollution and noise can have more subtle effects, whilst the more general impacts of climate change are starting to be seen in various parts of Europe. The talk will celebrate the richness of Europe's cetacean fauna whilst highlighting the threats they face and the actions we could take to address those.

Entry is free and all are welcome.