Our specialist leader tells us how sperm whale safaris are helping the nation's economy to recover
In September 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall on Dominica, a small, idyllic island nation in the Caribbean Sea. The hurricane caused widespread damage, with its infrastructure crippled and around 90% of the island's buildings being destroyed. With tourism forming a vital part of Dominica's economy, this damage threatened to severely hamper its recovery.
At the time of the hurricane, Natural World Safaris had a number of Dominica trips planned alongside BAFTA-winning videographer Patrick Dykstra, the focus of which would be on the sperm whales who inhabit Dominica's waters year-round. Patrick and ourselves were determined that these safaris would go ahead, which we wrote about on our blog back in October. Thankfully, all six trips were completed as planned, with our clients enjoying some spectacular whale sightings that ultimately led to thousands of dollars being contributed to Dominica's recovery.
But Patrick's involvement didn't end there. We sat down with the world-renowned photographer to find out more about his community work and how the restoration of Dominica is continuing to this day.