Anyone
who has ever watched up close as a massive whale shepherds her youngster
majestically through the deep waters of the Bay of Fundy feels changed forever.
So it’s no wonder that whale watching is a growing ecotourism industry around
the world. According to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, whale
watching now generates over $500 million a year worldwide, and is enjoyed by
over six million people in 65 countries. By canoe on the Amazon, in an
off-season whaling boat in Norway, or a luxury ship in Alaska, people are going
everywhere in search of whales and dolphins.
Whale
watching can be emotional, educational and an important part of local economies.
It offers a unique opportunity for people to appreciate the magnificence of
whales in their natural habitat and to help motivate people to protect these
animals and their environment. Additionally, much of what scientists know about
whales is a result of research conducted while they are aboard commercial whale
watching vessels.
However, unregulated whale watching can also lead to problems, including
threats to the animals’ health and well-being and negative impacts on fragile
coastal environments. The ecotourism industry has discovered the importance of
promoting "taking nothing but pictures, leaving nothing but footprints". Some
whale watching companies, however, lag far behind the rest of the ecotourism
industry because of explosive growth in new and unregulated markets, less
obvious impacts on cetaceans and their habitat, an enthusiastic but often naive
public, and the drive for profit above all else.
In British Columbia, the negative impact of too many whale watching boats is
one of a number of factors that has caused the orca whale to be listed as
threatened by the Canadian government. There are stories of people in Florida
feeding French fries to wild dolphins and some tour operators in that state
operate dolphin petting tours. With an increase in whale watching boats and
pleasure craft, traffic jams around whales occur all too often. In mid-February,
a 20-foot humpback whale leaped onto a whale watching boat near Hawaii and
injured a tourist’s knee.
In addition to increasing numbers of whale watching vessels in many parts of
the world, newer boats are capable of going much faster than in the past, with
the increasing likelihood that whales will be hit by boats. Researchers from the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have found that if whales are feeding
and/or socializing, they are less likely to react to an oncoming vessel and can
be hit. Researchers at the New England Aquarium have shown that large vessels,
which collide with whales at higher speeds, are more likely to kill them. The
International Wildlife Coalition, the parent group of the Whale Adoption
Project, has summarized scientific literature to demonstrate that the faster a
vessel moves, the less likely the operator is to see a distant whale, and the
less time they have to react once they do spot an animal.
In response to this problem, whale watch groups, government agencies and
private advocacy groups have established codes of conduct for whale watching.
In Washington State’s San Juan Islands, the Whale Watching Operators
Association Northwest acts as a self-policing group to make sure whale-watching
vessel captains in the San Juan Islands comply with the federal Marine Mammal
Protection Act and current whale-watching guidelines offered by The Whale
Museum’s Soundwatch Boater Education Program. This program began its unique
on-the-water work in 1993, handing out an informational flyer "Best Practices
for Viewing Marine Wildlife" to boaters who are in the vicinity of whales.
Off the east coast in the Bay of Fundy, marine tour operators have created a
Code of Ethics, which governs their actions. The purpose of this Code is to
foster an environment of cooperation and trust among marine tour operators for
the protection and safety of the whales and other marine life. The majority of
tour operators adhere to these guidelines.
The Cetacean Society International (CSI) has entered into an unusual
agreement with one of the major whale watch tour companies in Europe, Whale
Watching Worldwide (WWW). The agreement is based on the premise that responsible
and willing operators like WWW understand and accept responsibility for the
cumulative impacts they may contribute to by taking tourists into sensitive
areas.
These whale watching industry guidelines should also be followed by private
boaters, including kayakers. Here are suggestions culled from a variety of
guidelines:
Approaching an area of known whale activity should be done slowly and with
extreme caution, stopping to survey the area. In addition, approach parallel to
the whales and travel at the same speed as the slowest animals. Stay at least
100 metres away and don’t leapfrog into the path of the whales. Preferably,
there should only be two vessels at a time viewing a group of whales.
Move away from whales demonstrating avoidance behavior such as turning away
or increasing speed. Never herd or chase marine mammals or separate any groups
or pairs, such as a mother and her calf. Avoid positioning vessels in a way that
restricts or modifies a whale’s normal movements.
If approached by whales, maintain speed or slow down, but move away from the
nearest whale, or stop the boat and watch until the whales move more than 100
metres away.
Approach whale watching with reasonable expectations. Those wonderful
wildlife documentaries you watch on television took months to film; don’t expect
that kind of experience on a half-day excursion. In many instances irresponsible
demands from passengers on whale watching expeditions are partly responsible for
situations where disturbance occurs.
Don’t be afraid to express your concerns to the boat captains if you witness
actions on their part that seem to disturb whales. In a competitive business
environment, they want their customers to have a good experience.
Wendy Priesnitz is the Editor of
Natural Life Magazine and a journalist with 30 years of experience.
She has also authored nine
books. Read her
blog.
