New names for our sperm whales

Plastichunt, the international project born from the idea of a group of young Europeans who organized a large beach cleanup in August 2020 chose HEWA as the name for one of Tethys’ sperm whales. Despite the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Plastichunt was able to safely involve people from 65 countries around the world, from all five continents.

In addition to the extensive work removing plastic, the aim was also to support NGOs active in the conservation of the oceans. Tethys was among them; those who make a donation over 500 Euros, have the chance to name one of the recently identified sperm whales. The extraordinary guys from Plastichunt chose the name “HEWA” which means “air” in Swahili, as to remember the bond between us and cetaceans: we both need to breathe air to survive. Many thanks to our collaborator and creator of Plastichunt Sofia Bonicalza for having made all this possible.

Also other Tethys’ researchers have been doing some beach-clean up with Sofia, in September in Antibes. The nearby shopping center CAP3000 also wanted to make a donation and give a name to one of the whales. Merging their brand with the french word for sperm whale they called it CAPCACHALOT. Thanks everyone for the support!

The certificates that were issued