The Potential of Whale Watching in the Caribbean: 1999+

system allows him to hear and record the singing of male humpback whales up to 10 miles
away (16 km). For the past eight years, he has taken about 200 people a winter. He doesn't
charge, but accepts donations for fuel and sells superb cassettes and CDs of the whales
singing. This form of 'whale watching' expands the possiblities as it is much easier to find
a whale using hydrophones and to appreciate it sonically, than it is to get close enough to
see them. Also, this way, whales can be enjoyed for hours without encroaching on them at
all — and even on days when rough seas or wind make whale watching difficult. This idea
has yet to be copied in other parts of the world, but might well expand the possibilities in
other corners of the Caribbean. With their detailed, changing songs, humpbacks offer the
best opportunity for whale listening tours, though orcas, sperm whales and a number of
other whale species also have intriguing sounds. As word of Paul Knapp's 'listening tours'
has spread, he has found that a few people every year travel to the BVIs specifically to go
'whale listening'. With demand for the tours starting to increase in 1999, he may start
charging for the trips.
Despite the smaller numbers of tourists and facilities available, the BVIs offer a
world class destination with numerous boats and charters and sizeable diving and fishing
charter companies that could expand into whale or dolphin watching. For humpbacks,
these might have to be full day trips to the wintering grounds north of Tortola. At present,
there is no perception that the market for such tours exist. Such a market might well have
to be tested and even created. First of all, more work would need to be done to determine if
the humpback whale sightings are regular enough in winter, or if dolphins or other marine
nature features might serve to help build the tours. One problem may be simply that the
open waters around the islands are a little too exposed for mass tourism; it may still be of
interest to keen whale watchers. The fact that listening tours were created in the BVIs,
even though these are only modestly commercial, shows that there are possibilities.
Potential ports for getting to the humpbacks include Brewer's Bay, from the north
side of Tortola, and from the north and west side of Virgin Gorda, as well as Little
Harbour on Jost Van Dyke. The capital and business centre of the territory, Road Town,
located on the south side of Tortola, has the largest harbour and number of boats, although
the sailing/ motoring time would be considerably longer since most of the humpbacks are
off the north side of the islands. However, dolphins may be able to be seen enroute. Whale
watching might also be combined with diving or sightseeing trips to Horseshoe Reef, a
massive reef system on the south side of Angegada Island.
Meantime, since 1992, the BVI Conservation and Fisheries Department has asked
residents and visitors to report all humpback and other whale sightings as part of a
proposal to set up a marine conservation area north of the islands. The department has also
set up a network to help stranded cetaceans and offered a training course is rescue. The
National Parks Trust, based in Road Town, Tortola, has collected documentation on
humpback whales. It has contributed background information, including the printing of
valuable educational materials, to help boaters watch whales more responsibly. And then
there is Paul Knapp, the 'whale listening guru', who has become a superb naturalist on his
own kind of tours, and is even now, as I write this, planning his 16th whale listening
season in Tortola.
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British Virgin Islands: Whale watching guidelines
The National Parks Trust in the BVIs distributes a brochure which explains that
'special rules exist for anyone seeing whales in the BVI because this is a breeding ground
and the young calves and mothers are particularly sensitive to disturbance. The rules are
designed to protect this endangered species and to ensure that people watch whales in
safety.' Vessels should observe the following restrictions (Anon. 1990, Carlson 1998):
1. Boats should not approach nearer than 100 yards of a whale. This also applies to
swimmers and divers who should not get into the water with whales (being so close can
disturb whales and may be dangerous).
2. If whales approach within 100 yeards of your vessel, put engine in neutral until whales
are observed at the surface, clear of the vessel. (This avoids the risk of injury to the
whale or of damage to the vessel by a frightened whale.)
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