Posted by Angie Gullan 14 August 2010
Humanity’s fascination with whales and dolphins has been documented since time immemorial. Our ancient ancestors left tales of magic and mystery, companionship and trust and it is no wonder that humanity still to this day seeks to encounter these intelligent beings.
Marine mammal based tourism has been going on since the 1950’s and the growing trend to encounter both whales and dolphins in their natural habitat has resulted in an industry that operates in most corners of the world. During 2008 some 13 million people in over 100 countries participated in both whale and dolphin watching that included boat based and swim with activities.*
It is fair to ask the question - what of the animals?
Unethically undertaken, these activities can have severe negative implications on wild cetacean populations. Additional stress, together with a fast changing underwater environment bodes ill for all who exist therein and it is the responsibility of both the tourist and operator to ensure ethical sustainable practices are followed.
“Reputable organisations that offer whale and dolphin watching spend much time and energy actually putting something back.”
Whale and dolphin watching activities have the potential to positively contribute to the continued monitoring of certain species and coupled with ethically motivated codes of conduct, can provide a mutually beneficial relationship for both whales and dolphins, and people. Conservation and research projects often find difficulty in raising funds and over the years it has become clear that dolphin and whale watching activities are a sound platform to collect climatic and base-line data on the animals encountered.
Reputable organisations that offer whale and dolphin watching spend much time and energy actually putting something back. This is done through the likes of long term collection of data and genuinely looking after the well-being of the animals they encounter. Often marine biologists and researchers are employed to monitor and record interactions and have in the past proved beneficial in both policy making and policing.
My personal experiences of working in an area where research into wild Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins has been self-funded comes from Ponta do Ouro in Mozambique. Dolphin Encountours initiated Africa's first dolphin interaction and research facility in the mid 90’s here. Over the years some 4000 encounters have been logged and an impressive 200 individuals catalogued. The facility soon saw the development of the non-profit organisation DolphinCare-Africa, whose aim is to protect both resident and migratory species in the area.
After almost 13 years of requests, the area was finally proclaimed a partial marine protected area thanks to all of the reports and data collected over the years. This is a wonderful example of how dolphin and whale watching can directly fund research and conservation efforts.
For the love of dolphins!
*O’Connor, S., Campbell, R., Cortez, H., & Knowles, T. (2009). Whale Watching Worldwide: tourism numbers, expenditures and expanding economic benefits. A special report from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Yarmouth MA, USA. Prepared by Economists at Large.
About the author
Angie Gullan is based in Mozambique and first established the commercial dolphin interaction program Encountours during the mid 90's in Ponta do Ouro, after the recent ban of swimming with dolphins in South Africa. Her work soon saw the birth of the non profit organization Dolphincare in 1998. Her long-term dedication to the plight and protection of cetaceans in the area has earned her the tittle of Dolphin Angle. Her specially developed dolphin interaction program has been featured in over 50 publications world wide and screened on many local and foreign networks and the specially developed in-water code of conduct is now sighted as standard practice within the dolphin swim industry.
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