From sea monsters to sea darlings

Whale watching at the coastline of Madeira in Portugal. We hope to catch a marine mammal, like a whale or a dolphin on camera. 100 years ago, they wanted to catch whales for their blubber, nearly wiping out all the whales from the seas.
Already as early as the stone age people were fascinated by whales.
Even during the age of the vikings whaling was important.
From the Medieval period to early modern times, hunting for whales escalated. On the one hand people were scared of the whales – on the other hand they were depending on them as a resource.
At the beginning of the 20th-century whales were depleted and the continuous hunting nearly wiped out several whale species. But they didn't know how bad the situation was.
Today we have a new situation...
A study based on a questionnaire spread on social media like FaceBook and Twitter, tells us, how people perceive whales today.
This film reflects only a small part of the outcome from this workshop. Here scientists from different disciplines gather to share knowledge about marine mammals.