Why Not Buy Him A Whale?

Well you can't actually give him a whale, unless you're very good at fishing and can go out and catch your own. But for the man who has everything and who is environmentally aware you can certainly go close.

Visit the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust There you can give him a whale - or dolphin - of his own. The trust allows you to sponsor or name a whale or dolphin of your own.

It's tempting of course to think that it's just a fundraising exercise on their part. That you can't actually name a whale of your own because no one can distinguish one whale from another, so which one is yours?

However there is now technology available to help with the identification of individual whales and dolphins. Basically it involves taking photos of the dorsal fin each whale or dolphin. Apparently the dorsal fin of every animal is different and it is quite possible to tell one from another using dorsal fin photography. There are photographs of individual dolphins on the web site showing how they are identified and named.

The trust keep records of every whale or dolphin identified in this way. For somewhere around $50 you can sponsor an already named Minke Whale or Bottlenose Dolphin. For more, around $300, you can name and your own whale.

It’s not the sort of [tag-tec]gift[/tag-tec] that he can leave on display for visitors to admire. It's an unusual [tag]mens gift[/tag] but one that may well appeal to the man who has everything and who would like to see money going towards a worthwhile environmental cause.

Check out the trust, there is lots more information on their website about sponsoring or naming a whale or dolphin.

And why not read some of my other suggestions for hot Christmas presents for 2007