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REVIEW
RECENT ADVANCES IN WHALE-WATCHING RESEARCH: 20142015
Whale-watching research encompasses a wide variety of disciplines and fields of study, including
monitoring the biological impacts of whale-watching activities on cetaceans and assessments of the
effectiveness of whale-watching management and regulations, to the sociological and economic
aspects of whale watching on communities hosting such activities. This article is the latest in a series
of annual digests, which describes the variety and findings of whale-watching studies published over
the past year, since June 2014.
Key words: Whale watching; Code of conduct; Regulations; Management
Swim-with-dolphin/whale tourism; Whale watchers; Illegal feeding; Whale ecotourism
Introduction
Address correspondence to E. C. M. Parsons, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax,
VA22030-4444, USA. E-mail: ecm-parsons@earthlink.net
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Filby, Stockin, and Scarpaci (2015a) documented responses of the newly described Burrunan
dolphins (Tursiops australis; Charlton-Robb et al.,
2011) to dolphin-swim activities in Port Phillip
Bay, Victoria, Southern Australia. Burrunan dolphins are an endemic but threatened species and
the study sought to evaluate potential long-term
implications of swim-with tourism and to explore
signs of habituation or tolerance to the swim-withdolphin industry over time. A total of 211 dolphin
sightings were documented from 1998 to 2000
and 2011 to 2013 across 306 surveys (Filby et al.,
2015a). The researchers found that the probability
of sighting dolphins decreased across time (12.8%)
and encounter time was reduced by 8.2 min (Filby et
al., 2015a). Dolphins were more likely to approach
the vessel when the boat made a legal approach
(parallel) to dolphin groups and illegal/prohibited
approaches were more likely to evoke an aggressive response from dolphins (Filby et al., 2015a).
Size of dolphin groups and the type of behavior
they were initially exhibiting affected the degree
of response, with large groups responding less and
resting groups showing more avoidance (Filby
et al., 2015a). Dolphins were also most likely to
exhibit responses to boat presence as time progressed, suggesting sensitization to boats (Filby et
al., 2015a) Moreover, the likelihood of calves being
observed also increased in the latter study period
(Filby et al., 2015a). The increase in interaction
with groups with calves is a cause for concern. The
authors rationalize that noncompliance by swimwith-dolphin operators is impacting the viability
and health of this genetically isolated population of
Burrunan dolphins by hindering foraging and resting (Filby et al., 2015a). Complying with regulations would, however, ultimately be beneficial for
trip operators, as dolphins would be less likely to
avoid the vessels and it would likely increase customer satisfaction (see Filby, Stockin, & Scarpaci,
2015b). Official monitoring and strict enforcement
of swim-with-dolphin regulationsactive management, as the authors put itis definitely warranted for this population.
Meissner et al. (2015) documented the effects
of whale-watching boat traffic on common dolphin
(Delphinus delphis) behavior in the North Island
(Bay of Plenty) of New Zealand. Data were collected from research vessels or on the platform of
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postparticipation. A total of 282 surveys were collected from 19982003, with participants logging
onto an online survey (Filby et al., 2015b). Tourists
said that they were happy to comply with regulations, as failure to do so would incur a negative
impact on the species they paid to view (Filby et
al., 2015b).
Simultaneously with the above survey, data
were collected on compliance levels of the swimwith-dolphin trip operators with whale-watching
regulations. Compliance levels had not improved
significantly since previous studies (Filby et al.,
2015b), but the information gained in the survey
might prove a valuable tool to encourage compliance with whale-watching regulations, that is, via
operators trying to increase tourist satisfaction
levels by improving education and complying
with regulations. Filby et al. (2015b) highlight the
importance of understanding the human dimensions of cetacean tourism and how understanding
this could be an important tool to effectively manage whale watching.
In addition to documenting the effects of boat
traffic on dolphins, Meissner and coauthors (2015)
documented the level at which common dolphinwatching trip operators complied with whalewatching regulations in the Bay of Plenty, North
Island of New Zealand. The study documented both
commercial operations and recreational vessels that
intercepted dolphin groups (defined as recreational
whale watching by the IWC in Parsons, Fortuna, et
al., 2006) in an open oceanic habitat from November 2010 to May 2013 (as noted above). Levels of
compliance of two types of whale-watching vessels
(commercial whale-watching and swim-withdolphin trips with government permits) and non
permitted recreational whale watching were reported
(Meissner et al., 2015). The following regulations
were studied for compliance levels: vessel number,
vessel speed, duration of encounter, and presence of
immature animals during swim-with-dolphin trips.
Vessel types were recorded as: commercial tour vessels, nonmotorized, motorized recreational vessels
less than 8 m, motorized personal craft such as jet
skis, and motorized commercial, which included
container ships (Meissner et al., 2015).
The regulation for interaction time was exceeded
in 14.8% of dolphin encounters; the number of
vessels in the vicinity to dolphins was breached in
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and dolphins and their habitat rather than the general marine environment. Top topics that tourists
wanted to hear about included cetacean intelligence
(80%), social behavior, importance in the ecosystem, and conservation (all 75%), closely followed
by their relationship with other species (74%)
and general marine conservation (71%), whereas
less popular topics were dolphin diet (50%) and
interactions with indigenous people (48%; Lck,
2015). However, only 21% agreed, and merely
9% strongly agreed, that they wanted more information on how they could get involved in wildlife
conservation (Lck, 2015), suggesting that these
trips currently do not promote a conservation ethic
in tourists as of yet.
Similar results were found by Filby et al. (2015b)
in the Southern Australian study described earlier.
Participants on whale-watching trips were also
found to value knowledgeable crew, but were only
moderately satisfied with the educational material
that was provided to them (Filby et al., 2015b).
Moreover, this satisfaction declined as time on trips
progressed (Filby et al., 2015b). From this, it was
suggested that an optimal time to educate tourists
could be after a swim with dolphins (Filby et al.,
2015b). These studies into the educational aspects
of whale watching are encouraging; as noted in
the introduction to this section, there has been an
assumption that education occurs on whale-watching
trips, but there are relatively few studies that quantify this, or assess the quality of this education.
Whale watching can be a valuable tool for educating the public about cetaceans and conservation,
and potentially for influencing tourists behaviors
so that they become more environmentally oriented, but how to maximize this potential is an area
that clearly requires more research.
Summary
Over the past year there have been several inter
esting studies that have further developed the
ways in which scientists can measure the impacts
of whale watching on cetaceans, including combining acoustic and visual observations, using
photo-identification data to investigate exposure
levels, exploring bioenergetic costs of behavioral
alterations, and investigating gender differences
in animals responses to whale watching. Several
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