Age of Union Alliance in Montreal, Canada, has announced a $4.5 million gift to Sea Shepherd in support of efforts to protect marine wildlife around the world.

Based in Alexandria, Virginia, Sea Shepherd partners with governments to patrol their oceans and prevent illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing — which, in addition to climate change, ocean acidification, and habitat deterioration, threatens the planet's fragile marine ecosystems. The gift will fund the operating costs of a 56-meter vessel, the Age of Union, for the next three years. The ship will patrol the waters off the west coast of France to prevent bycatch of dolphins until the end of March, then head to the west coast of Africa for approximately three months to protect marine wildlife there.

According to Sea Shepherd, between six thousand and ten thousand dolphins are killed as bycatch off France’s west coast — twice as many as in all other countries combined. In West Africa, the Gulf of Guinea is a critical habitat for tuna, humpback whales, whale sharks, and other marine megafauna, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing is responsible for up to 40 percent of the catch in the region.

Age of Union was founded in October 2021 by tech entrepreneur and environmentalist Dax Dasilva with an initial pledge of $40 million toward efforts to protect global ecosystems.

“I have long admired Sea Shepherd's unyielding efforts to protect our planet's most sacred oceanic ecosystems,” said Dasilva. “With these funds from Age of Union, we hope to help Sea Shepherd save the lives of endangered species, preserve their habitats, and support local communities disrupted by illegal poachers. We must continue to shine a light on the important work organizations like Sea Shepherd do to keep our waters safe for the prosperity of critical marine wildlife.”

(Photo credit: CNW Group/Age of Union Alliance)