The COVID-19 era and related restrictions have impacted British Columbia (BC) whalewatching operators and their perspectives on whale-watching and tourism-government relations in BC. Despite the popularity and importance of whale-watching in BC, and its relative freedom from restrictions given its outdoor operations, tour operators had to negotiate dynamic constraints during the COVID-19 era. Federal and provincial government responses to the pandemic directly impacted whale-watching, for example, by changing the capacity or number of tourists allowed per vessel. Restrictions also impacted additional goods and services offered by some tour operators, such as refreshments. Adapting to such changes required a certain agility on the part of operators. Many operators also accessed key government supports such as loans and wage subsidies. This paper is based on a mixed methods research project centered on qualitative interview-based research and analysis. It was also informed by limited participant observation on whale-watching tours. Here, we
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