Browsing by Subject "Whale watching"

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    Being Whale Wise: The Effectiveness of Whale Watching Guidelines in Johnstone Strait, British Columbia
    (2010-04-24T01:29:50Z) Walker, Robyn
    Johnstone Strait, British Columbia, Canada is home to several groups of northern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca), which also makes it a prime tourist destination for whale watching. Boat traffic through the strait averages at least 13 vessels an hour, consisting of both private and commercial vessels. Currently, a set of voluntary marine mammal viewing guidelines is in place to help regulate the behavior of these vessels near the whales, however it is unclear how effective these guidelines actually are in promoting responsible wildlife viewing in Johnstone Strait. This study was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of this voluntary code, and was conducted using both land-based and boat-based observations. For twelve days during July and August 2009, observations were conducted from a cliff-top vantage point tracking vessel traffic, whale presence and activity, vessel interactions with whales, and incidents in which the guidelines were not adhered to. Additionally, data from Straitwatch, a marine monitoring and stewardship program in Johnstone Strait, were used to supplement the land-based observations. Straitwatch collected similar data from their outreach vessels, during July, August and September from 2007 to 2009. From this data, it was found that the number of incidents between vessels and whales did not show any sign of decrease, and adherence to the voluntary guidelines is still relatively low. This study serves to examine the effectiveness of the voluntary program, and recommendations are made on how to increase education and awareness of these guidelines.
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    Ecological and economic tradeoffs between herring fisheries and whale watching in New England
    (2014-04-24) Yan, Lingxiao
    The whale-watching industry is an important component of the New England regional economy with about one million tourism visitors. Humpback whales are the most popular whale-watching targets, whose primary activity in this area is feeding that mainly on herrings. Meanwhile, the value of herring fisheries is more than $20M annually and it is the major supply for canneries and lobster bait. According to the historical document, over-harvesting of herrings may cause the dramatic depletion of humpback whale stock. This research investigates the economic benefits and losses of the ban on the harvesting for herring in the New England area. I compare the revenue of herring fisheries and whale-watching under different herring harvest levels through integrated economic-ecological analysis. The marine ecosystem side will be modeled through EMAX food web. The socio-economical analysis focuses on the herring fisheries and whale watching market price and quantity. By comparing the two-sided benefits, this research evaluates if herring should be left in the marine ecosystem or harvested. The result indicated that the decrease of herring harvest would not cause dramatic increase of the whale stock,, at least in the short term. Accordingly, the decline of herring landing would not significantly or equally increases the revenue from the whale watching tourism. The result suggests that the current herring fisheries landing might not have a significant impact on the whale population.
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    The Whale Community of Husavik: Examining Perceptions & Experiences Surrounding Whale Ecotourism & Conservation
    (2017-04-28) Reiter, Erika
    The whale watching industry is rapidly expanding throughout the world. Researchers have found that the experience of whale watching holds value within the context of ecological education and can foster a sensitivity towards environmental issues. Meanwhile, other researchers are concerned that the industry will do more harm than good to vulnerable populations of whales. This research explores these concerns in Husavik, a town in northern Iceland that largely owes its success to the diversity of its whale ecotourism opportunities. Through semi-structured interviews with individuals with careers within (or in collaboration with) the whale watching industry in Husavik, data was collected on current perceptions of the industry and larger issues surrounding whale conservation. Within these topics, barriers were explored that exist within the local environment that threaten both the industry and the whales, as well as the over-arching narrative of those working within the industry.
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    Wandering Whale Watches: The Effectiveness of Whale Watches as a Platform of Opportunity for Data Collection
    (2008-04-25T03:09:55Z) Koslovsky, Stacie
    Most data used to assess the distribution and abundance of whales are derived from scientific surveys that are designed carefully to minimize sources of variation and reduce the potential for bias. Gathering data in this fashion tends to be both time consuming and costly. Similar data, however, can be collected from platforms of opportunity, including commercial vessels, ecotourism operations and whale watch vessels. The goal of the current project was to make recommendations for data collection procedures aboard whale watch vessels so that such observations are as comparable as possible to data collected from scientific surveys. To accomplish this goal, a sightings data set was obtained from three whale watch companies on Stellwagen Bank, Massachusetts during summer 2007. Vessel and sightings data were obtained via GPS for the duration of whale watches out of Gloucester and Boston, Massachusetts. Whale sightings data were combined with vessel trackline data to calculate species-specific sightings-per-unit-effort (SPUE). These SPUE values were then compared to similar data derived from scientific surveys conducted in the same area. Additionally, sightings data from whale watches from 1994-2006 were analyzed for long-term trends in abundance and distribution. Whale watch vessels offer a large, valuable and largely untapped source of data on the distribution and abundance of whales. Whale watch data collected in a standardized fashion could contribute significantly to scientific and conservation efforts.