Whale watching
Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.[1] A study prepared for International Fund for Animal Welfare in 2009 estimated that 13 million people went whale watching globally in 2008. Whale watching generates $2.1 billion per annum in tourism revenue worldwide, employing around 13,000 workers.[2] The size and rapid growth of the industry has led to complex and continuing debates with the whaling industry about the best use of whales as a natural resource.
History[edit]
Organized whale watching started in the United States, when the Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego was declared a public venue for observing the migration of gray whales; the spectacle attracted 10,000 visitors in its first year, 1950.[1] In 1955 the first water-based whale watching commenced in the same area, charging customers $1 per trip to view the whales at closer quarters.[1] The industry spread throughout the western coast of the United States over the following decade.[1]
In 1971 the Montreal Zoological Society commenced the first commercial whale watching activity on the eastern side of North America, offering trips in the St. Lawrence River to view fin and beluga whales.[1] By the mid-1970s, live captures for aquaria had reduced the orca populations in the coastal waters of British Columbia and Washington, particularly the southern resident orca population. According to their scientific chroniclers, in the 1980s commercial whale watching started becoming an alternative means of viewing and appreciating orcas.[3] In 1984, Erich Hoyt, who had spent much time amongst the orcas of British Columbia, published the first comprehensive book on whale watching, The Whale Watcher's Handbook, which Mark Carwardine called his number one "natural classic" book in BBC Wildlife magazine.[4]
By 1985 more visitors watched whales from New England than California. The rapid growth in this area has been attributed to the relatively dense population of humpback whales, whose acrobatic behavior such as breaching (jumping out of the water) and tail-slapping thrilled observers, and the close proximity of whale populations to the large cities there.[5]
Whale watching tourism has grown substantially since the mid-1980s. The first worldwide survey of whale watching was conducted by Hoyt for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) in 1992. It was updated in 1995 and submitted by the UK government to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meetings as a demonstration of the value of living whales.[5] In 1999, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) asked Hoyt for another expansion, which was published in 2001.[5] In 2009 the survey was completed by a team of economists and this report estimated that in 2008, 13 million people went whale watching, up from 9 million ten years earlier. Commercial whale watching operations were found in 119 countries. Direct revenue of whale watching trips was estimated at US$872.7 million and indirect revenue of $2,113.1 million was spent by whale watchers in tourism-related businesses.[2]
Whale watching is of particular importance to developing countries. Coastal communities have started to profit directly from the whales' presence, significantly adding to popular support for the protection of these animals from commercial whaling and other threats such as bycatch and ship strikes using the tool of marine protected areas and sanctuaries. In 2007, the Humane Society International sponsored a series of workshops to introduce whale watching to coastal Peru and commissioned Hoyt to write a blueprint for high quality, sustainable whale watching.[6] This manual, later translated into Spanish, French, Indonesian, Japanese, Chinese and Dutch, with co-sponsorship from WDCS, IFAW and Global Ocean was updated in English in 2012 in ebook form.[6]
The rapid growth of the number of whale watching trips and the size of vessel used to watch whales may affect whale behavior, migratory patterns and breeding cycles. There is now strong evidence that whale watching can significantly affect the biology and ecology of whales and dolphins.
Environmental campaigners, concerned by what they consider the "quick-buck" mentality of some boat owners, continue to strongly urge all whale watcher operators to contribute to local regulations governing whale watching (no international standard set of regulations exist because of the huge variety of species and populations). Common rules include:
(Source: WDCS)
In Uruguay, where whales can be watched from the beach, legislators have designated the country's territorial waters as a sanctuary for whales and dolphins.[8] It is illegal to be less than 300 metres from a whale.