The Negative Impacts of Whale-Watching

Parsons, E. C. M.

doi:10.1155/2012/807294

Cited by 131 publications

(125 citation statements)

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“…Compared with captive facilities, responsible boatbased cetacean watching has been promoted as an ethically acceptable option for observing dolphins, providing a valuable forum for environmental education and promotion of conservation efforts (IFAW, 1997). However, a considerable body of work has shown that boats and boat-based cetacean watching can have multiple negative impacts on the behaviour of the focal individual, population or species (Parsons, 2012). Short-term impacts associated with boat interactions include group directional changes (Steckenreuter, Möller, & Harcourt, 2012;, changes in group dispersion (Arcangeli & Crosti, 2009;Steckenreuter et al, 2012), heightened breathing synchrony (Hastie, Wilson, Tufft, & Thompson, 2003), increased dive times (Lusseau, 2003b) and changes in vocalizations (Buckstaff, 2004;Scarpaci, Bigger, Corkeron, & Nugegoda, 2000).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in bottlenose dolphin whistle parameters related to vessel presence, surface behaviour and group composition

et al. 2016

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Cetacean watching from tour boats has increased in recent years and has been promoted as an ethically viable alternative to cetacean viewing in captive facilities or directed take. However, short-and long-term impacts of this industry on the behaviour and energetic expenditure of cetaceans have been documented. Although multiple studies have investigated the acoustic 1 response of dolphins to marine tourism, there are several covariates that could also explain some of these results and should be considered simultaneously. Here, we investigated whether common bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, inhabiting Walvis Bay, Namibia vary their whistle parameters in relation to boat presence, surface behaviour and/or group composition. We detected an upward shift of up to 1.99 kHz in several whistle frequency parameters when dolphins were in the presence of one or more tour boats and the research vessel. No changes were demonstrated in the frequency range, number of inflection points or duration of whistles. A similar, although less pronounced difference was observed in response to engine noise generated by the research vessel when idling, suggesting that noise alone plays an important role in driving this shift in whistle frequency. Additionally, a strong effect of surface behaviour was observed, with the greatest difference in whistle parameters detected between resting and other behavioural states that are associated with higher degrees of emotional arousal. Group composition also contributed to the variation observed, with the impact of boats dependent on whether calves were present or not. Overall these results demonstrate high natural variation in the frequency parameters of whistles utilized by dolphins over varying behavioural states and group composition. Anthropogenic impact in the form of marine tour boats can influence the vocalization parameters of dolphins and such changes could have a long-term impact if they reduce the communication range of whistles or increase energy expenditure. Key wordsbottlenose dolphin, marine tourism, Namibia, Tursiops truncatus, vocal behaviour Wildlife tourism involving cetacean (whale, dolphin and porpoise) watching has experienced rapid growth since the 1990s (Hoyt, 2001;O'Connor, Campbell, Cortez, & Knowles, 2009). 2Globally, boat-based cetacean watching generates an estimated 2.2 billion US dollars annually (IWC, 2014). Revenue can provide a valuable subsidy to fishing communities and in some cases wild cetacean viewing has replaced direct hunting of whales and dolphins (Amir & Jiddawi, 2001;Berggren et al., 2007). Compared with captive facilities, responsible boatbased cetacean watching has been promoted as an ethically acceptable option for observing dolphins, providing a valuable forum for environmental education and promotion of conservation efforts (IFAW, 1997). However, a considerable body of work has shown that boats and boat-based cetacean watching can have multiple negative impacts on the behaviour of the focal individual, population or species (Parsons,...

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confidence: 99%

Changes in bottlenose dolphin whistle parameters related to vessel presence, surface behaviour and group composition

et al. 2016

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“…The question scientists, policy-makers and tourism industry leaders are facing is how to determine the conditions under which whale-watching becomes harmful to the animals at stake, and how to best protect them (e.g. Catlin, Jones and Jones, 2012;Carlson, 2012;Higham and Lusseau, 2004;Parsons, 2012;Simmonds and Isaac, 2007;Steckenreuter, Harcourt and Mӧller, 2012;Visser et al, 2010). Here is evidence that the regulations which many are currently seeking to introduce may not work in communities like this, given its internal tensions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Carlson, 2012;Garrod and Fennel, 2004), but of course compliance with them is not guaranteed (e.g. Parsons, 2012;Quiros, 2007).…”

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confidence: 99%

How ecotourism works at the community-level: the case of whale-watching in the Azores

Silva

2013

Current Issues in Tourism

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Whale-watching is one of the fastest growing tourism industries worldwide, often viewed as a sustainable, non-consumptive strategy for the benefits of cetacean conservation and the coastal communities, alternative to and incompatible with whaling. Yet there is paucity of research on how things actually work out at the community-level. Drawing on research literature and my own ethnographic fieldwork, this article bridges a knowledge gap in this field while examining an Azorean context where tourism has brought a re-commodification of the whale for the community (observing wildlife as opposed to harpooning it) in the last 20 years. The analysis is focused on the four main community-level implications: governance of common maritime resources, and tourism's contribution to economic sustainability, cultural identity and social relations. It is shown that whale-watching, as any other form of community-based ecotourism, is not a panacea that always promotes biodiversity conservation and economic and sociocultural sustainability for the host communities. Moreover, expanding on the theorisation of emerging institutional fields by Lawrence and Phillips, the political, historical, economic and sociocultural context of the community involved is a key factor for understanding local agency and the local specific features of new fields.

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“…Vessel traffic may alter marine mammal behaviour through their physical presence, elevated underwater noise levels and exposure to collision risks (Richardson et al 1995, Laist et al 2001, Nowacek et al 2007, Clark et al 2009, Parsons 2012, Pirotta et al 2015. Whale-watching, a form of vessel traffic in which boat operators and tourists specifically seek to interact with marine mammals, is a lucrative business that has developed rapidly and widely over the past decades (O'Connor et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This type of activity has been repeatedly shown to elicit short-term behavioural responses from a variety of marine mammal species (e.g. Richardson et al 1995, Parsons 2012, Senigaglia et al 2016 for reviews). Such changes in behaviour can result in increased energetic expenditures or decreased energetic gains (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased proximity of vessels reduces feeding opportunities of blue whales in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada

Lesage¹,

Omrane²,

Doniol‐Valcroze³

et al. 2017

Endang. Species. Res.

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Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus occur seasonally in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada, where they spend most of their time foraging. Their recurrent presence has stimulated the development of a large whale-watching industry. Here, we examine the effect of vessel distance on blue whale foraging behaviour by measuring changes in surface and diving patterns. Vessels were within 2000 m of blue whales during 70% of 33 follows, and 59% of total observation time. At vessel distances ≤400 m, surface and dive times were on average 49 and 36% shorter, respectively, and the number of breaths taken by the whales was reduced by 51% compared to control observations without vessel presence within 2000 m of whales. The consequent reduction in foraging time was likely greater than 36%, given that transit time is incompressible and foraging depth is dictated by where krill densities are located. We showed that the relative proportion of lost foraging time from vessel exposure increased exponentially with prey depth. Whales were unable to compensate for lost feeding opportunities by increasing diving rate or swim speed, except when feeding within 10 to 15 m of the surface. Our results indicate that preventing vessels from entering within a 400 m radius around blue whales can help reduce the negative effects of marine recreational activities on blue whale foraging.

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The Negative Impacts of Whale-Watching

Cited by 131 publications

References 73 publications

Changes in bottlenose dolphin whistle parameters related to vessel presence, surface behaviour and group composition

Changes in bottlenose dolphin whistle parameters related to vessel presence, surface behaviour and group composition

How ecotourism works at the community-level: the case of whale-watching in the Azores

Increased proximity of vessels reduces feeding opportunities of blue whales in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada

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