From October 2016 to March 2017, the Lliga per la Defensa del Patrimoni Natural (DEPANA) undertook a fundraising campaign to adopt the Risso’s dolphin GG0010, included in our photo-identification catalogue. At the same time, they organised a contest for their associates, friends and supporters to give a name to the adopted Risso’s dolphin. They also organised a raffle which allowed 2 of the participants to come to one of the sighting surveys of the Photo-Identification Project: Whales and dolphins along the Catalan coast, carried out by Associació Cetàcea.

The winners of the contest were second grade students of the class of the dolphins from the Escola Pia of Olot. They named the dolphin MED in honour of their classmate Mohamed, who left to Germany and also in honour to the Mediterranean Sea. The students also received an exclusive poster of MED photographed during one of the cetacean sighting surveys in 2014.

When the contest and the raffle were finished, Depana donated part of the money to Associació Cetàcea to acquire equipment for our sighting surveys. This donation was possible thanks to the microdonations made by DEPANA’s associates, friends and supporters and thanks to DEPANA itself. Part of the fundraised money was invested in acquiring a pair of binoculars and the rest will be invested in buying audiovisual equipment

We would like to thank DEPANA for the donation and for the organisation of both contests. At the same time, we would like to thank all the people that took part in them, especially to the second grade students of the class of the Dolphins from the Escola Pia of Olot for choosing the name of the dolphin.