Experienced photographer’s behaviour during commercial swim-with-wildlife tours: comparative case studies of three operations in the South Pacific

Pagel, C; Orams, Mark B.; Lück, Michael

doi:10.1080/13683500.2020.1828312

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 48 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Self-presentation is one of the major functions of photography today (Van Dijck, 2008). Among tourists, photography is an important part of their wildlife experience (Pagel, Orams, & Lück, 2021). Though smartphone cameras continue to add improved zoom capabilities, the amateur photographer is unlikely to use more advanced techniques that would help them achieve good quality photos from further away.…”

Section: Conceptual Framework For the Social Marketing Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Encouraging Respectful Wildlife Viewing Among Tourists: Roles for Social Marketing, Regulatory Information, Symbolic Barriers, and Enforcement

Abrams

Molder

Nankey

et al. 2023

Social Marketing Quarterly

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The practice of viewing animals in captivity is losing popularity among tourists, who would rather observe wildlife in their natural environments. A laudable sustainability goal is to provide enjoyable viewing possibilities while also protecting wildlife. Focus of the Article This study tested a social marketing campaign that promoted replacement behaviors against standard regulatory signage in persuading individuals to follow the viewing distance guideline for Hawaiian green sea turtles. The characteristics of one of the study sites also offered the opportunity to study the impacts of symbolic barriers (e.g., rock walls, orange safety cones) and enforcement from authority-like figures on people’s compliance. Research Questions The study addresses three research questions: (1) Can a social marketing-based approach encourage respectful wildlife viewing? (2) How does the approach compare to one providing simplistic information about the behavior and associated laws? (3) How do symbolic barriers and enforcement by authority-like figures add impact to influencing respectful wildlife viewing? Program Design/Approach The “Amazing from Afar” campaign was designed with insights from federal wildlife managers, existing literature on tourists’ psychology and goals, and key informant interviews with local residents. The campaign promoted replacement behaviors of taking forced perspective photos of sea turtles and was evaluated alongside other techniques to encourage respectful viewing. Importance to the Social Marketing Field This article demonstrates the effectiveness of social marketing for nature-based recreation, an under-served area where interest in approaches focused on behavior change is emerging. The study documents improved compliance with wildlife viewing distances using a social marketing approach compared to the more standard approach of stating rules/laws and putting up symbolic barriers. Plus, it illustrates how symbolic barriers and enforcement can enhance impact. Methods Research took place over two studies, one on Oahu ( n = 1,437) and one on the Island of Hawai‘i ( n = 10,217) using a quasi-experimental design where the control conditions reflected existing efforts at the site. Using naturalistic observation, we categorized and counted people at various distances from basking sea turtles before and during the social marketing campaign. Results Findings showed regulatory information signs located near the sea turtles positively impacted people’s compliance with the viewing distance guideline, and the social marketing campaign improved compliance even further. The symbolic barrier could help or hurt compliance depending on how close sea turtles got to its edges, but compliance was over 90% with the social marketing campaign in place. Recommendations Natural resource managers and conservationists should carefully consider how regulations/enforcement, environmental design, and marketing can work together to achieve wildlife protection while preserving fulfilling viewing opportunities. Limitations The field research relying on observations of people’s behavior did not allow for assurances of exposure to signage, and in some cases, the symbolic barriers could have been overlooked as well. Instead, there could have been descriptive norm cues from others since it was common for multiple parties to be viewing at once.

show abstract

Section: Conceptual Framework For the Social Marketing Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Encouraging Respectful Wildlife Viewing Among Tourists: Roles for Social Marketing, Regulatory Information, Symbolic Barriers, and Enforcement

Abrams

Molder

Nankey

et al. 2023

Social Marketing Quarterly

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Examples include wild animals (Pagel et al, 2021), surging tides (Wang et al, 2019), and canyons or cliffs. While these natural features inherently involve danger, tourists-particularly professional adventurists-often disregard threats and approach them in person to obtain a better view or capture images for social media.…”

Section: Tourists' Risk Perceptions Through Gazementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Risky attractions threaten tourists' safety, such as when viewing wildlife (Pagel et al, 2021), tidal bores (Wang et al, 2019), and Kjeragbolten (a dangerous boulder and a famous attraction in Stavanger, Norway). Tourists' visual consumption of risky attractions is deemed "risky attraction gazing" in this research.…”

Section: Risky Attraction Gazementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Concept and Evidence of Tourist Risk Gaze

Xie,

Yu,

Zhang

et al. 2023

Journal of Travel Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gaze describes the experiential way that tourists perceive destinations during trips. Destination-related risks are inevitable in tourism; however, little attention has been given to the tourist gaze based on travel risk. Our research addresses this disparity by proposing and exploring the concept of tourist risk gaze. In Study 1, findings suggest that this type of gaze involves three interrelated aspects: risk information gaze, risky attraction gaze, and risky behavior gaze. In Study 2, we invited 50 Chinese university students to participate in an eye-tracking experiment to test tourist risk gaze. Participants displayed distinct visual attention patterns toward these three aspects when tourists encountered them during trips. This research offers a new lens through which to consider the tourist gaze and risk perception. It also introduces a novel eye-tracking method to analyze travel risk and the tourist gaze.

show abstract

“…The pressure created by social media to get close to wildlife is an emerging trend that is partially driving this industry growth (Pagel et al, 2020a). Interviews conducted with swim-with-whale tour operators in the South Pacific revealed that skilled wildlife photographers and social media influencers were the type of passengers most likely to ignore safety rules and guidelines in order to get closer to wildlife (Pagel et al, 2020b).…”

Section: Management Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Behavioural Impacts of Commercial Swimming With Whale Tours on Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Hervey Bay, Australia

Stack

Sprogis²,

Olson

et al. 2021

Front. Mar. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Swim-with-whale tourism has expanded across several countries globally, with humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) being the most commonly targeted species of baleen whale. Behavioural responses from humpback whales to swim-with-whale tours have been reported, however, responses are likely context-dependent. In 2014, swimming with humpback whales began in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia, an important resting ground and migratory stopover for humpback whales. The behavioural responses of humpback whales to this swim-with-whale industry have not been examined in Queensland, preventing informed management of this industry. The aims of this study were to: (1) examine short-term behavioural responses in whales before, during, and after swim-with-whale tours, and (2) investigate behavioural responses of whales throughout swim-with-whale tours compared to whale watch tours. Data were collected on board a commercial vessel, where before, during and after data were collected during swim-with-whale tours (250 h) and whale watch tours (150 h). Within the swim-with-whale tours, behavioural changes were detected before, during, and after the vessel approached and placed swimmers in the water on a mermaid line, with the majority of significant changes occurring in the during and after phases. The number of direction changes made by the whales was highest when swimmers were in the water and the whales did not resume undisturbed behaviour after the swimmers exited the water. There was a 50% reduction in the proportion of time that whales spent resting during swim-tours compared to during whale watch tours. In both tour types, the time spent engaging in various behaviours was impacted by the distance between the vessel and the whale(s). These results support the conclusion that the behaviour of humpback whales in Hervey Bay was altered in response to swim-with-whale tourism. As humpback whales are capital breeders with limited energy reserves, reducing disturbance to them is of high importance for their continued population recovery and for the sustainability of the marine tourism industry. In Australia, where swim-with-whale tourism is becoming more established, robust education and enforcement programs, combined with continued monitoring of population dynamics through scientific research, are needed to minimise impacts to the population and guide adaptive management strategies.

show abstract

Experienced photographer’s behaviour during commercial swim-with-wildlife tours: comparative case studies of three operations in the South Pacific

Cited by 8 publications

References 48 publications

Encouraging Respectful Wildlife Viewing Among Tourists: Roles for Social Marketing, Regulatory Information, Symbolic Barriers, and Enforcement

Encouraging Respectful Wildlife Viewing Among Tourists: Roles for Social Marketing, Regulatory Information, Symbolic Barriers, and Enforcement

Concept and Evidence of Tourist Risk Gaze

The Behavioural Impacts of Commercial Swimming With Whale Tours on Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Hervey Bay, Australia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About