The Potential of Whale Watching in the Caribbean: 1999+

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19. St. Lucia Population: 150,630. Land area: 616 sq km. Tourist arrivals by air: 248,406 (+5.4% on prev. yr.) Tourist arrivals by cruise ship: 310,263 (+71.9% on prev. yr.) Total Tourist Expenditures: $283.7 million USD. Tourism Budget: $5.5 million USD. GDP at factor cost: $488.2 million USD. 1994 figures on whale watching: Nil. 1998 figures on whale watching:
tourism are distributed more evenly throughout the island, especially to rural communities while ensuring minimal impact on natural resources. The overall aim is to make St. Lucia 'the most diversified and sustainable tourism destination in the Caribbean'. The recognition of the importance of maintaining nature as the backbone of this new directive is vital. This recognition of the importance of maintaining marine resources has contributed to the recent designation of some 23 modest-sized marine protected areas all around the island, mostly centering on coral reefs and mangroves. The Soufrière Marine Management Area, for example, which contains four different marine reserves, has a balanced, comprehensive programme modelled on the biosphere reserve concept which includes protection, management, and local education while allowing for some tourism and fishing development. Some of the reserves have populations of cetaceans as regular visitors, though official recognition of cetaceans has been slow to come. There is no listing for whale watching in the 98-page A4 colour glossy Visions St. Lucia 1998/99 Tourist Guide. In the comprehensive 36-page St. Lucia Marine Guide 1998/99, there is not even a single mention of a dolphin or whale, much less of 'whale watching'. The most common cetaceans seen by boat year-round in St. Lucian waters are various dolphins, especially spinner and pantropical spotted, sighted from inshore to 2-3 miles offshore (3-5 km) and short-finned pilot whales some 3-20 miles (5-32 km) from shore. Sperm whales are also regularly seen off the northwest, west and southwest of the island, as well as false killer whales. Occasionally, Bryde's whales, as well as humpback whales (several 1999 sightings off the NE tip of the island), are seen in the period from January to April. The regular hunting of pilot whales has occurred mainly (though not entirely) on the southwestern and eastern coasts of St. Lucia (away from the main tourism areas in the northwest); pilot whales and various dolphins have been landed regularly at the following ports: Soufrière, Choiseul, Laborie, Vieux Fort, Micoud, Dennery, as well as Castries, but most have been reported at Vieux Fort, at the southern tip of St. Lucia, in the latter part of the year. Pilot whales can also be seen (and are sometimes caught) out of the northwest and the peak period for sightings is November-December, though they have been seen in every month, often travelling in pods of 20 to 100 animals. There are other regular sightings and landings from hunts of rarer cetaceans, including dwarf and/or pygmy sperm whales, and possibly goosebeaked and Antillean beaked whales. The reported sightings have been off the Pitons on the west side of St. Lucia out of the port of Soufrière, sometimes as close as a mile (1.6 km) from shore, especially during the months of April through July. According to St. Lucia's Chief Fisheries Officer, the best sites where cetaceans occur commonly and in fairly large numbers are in Soufrière Bay, on the southwest coast which has deep waters close to shore, and off northwest St. Lucia, from in the lee of the island to the waters between St. Lucia and Martinique. The second locale is closest to the main tourist area, although both are easily accessible on half-day boat trips. A third location at Vieux Fort was not recommended, perhaps in part because it is a centre for dolphin hunting and is away from the main tourist areas, although the Maria Islands, off Vieux Fort, are a special attraction for nature lovers. Land-based sighting opportunities largely take advantage of the above three areas of cetacean concentration. Recommended are various spots along the west coast, in the lee of the island, especially from slightly elevated locations in the northwest from Castries to Gros Islet, including Pigeon Pointe. Also, at Anse Chastanet (near Soufrière), a number of dolphin and large whale sightings were recorded by Randall Reeves. Headlands and promontories around Vieux Fort and from the Maria Islands should also be investigated for possible land-based whale and dolphin watching. With tourists already coming for the diving and other marine activities, as well as for the nature offerings on land, a substantial whale and dolphin watching industry would seem to be a natural for St. Lucia. However, several problems have prevented the tours from becoming popular to the extent that they have in, e.g., Dominica. One is that fishermen still take cetaceans in some numbers around St. Lucia. There may be a slight uneasiness with the ascendancy of whale watching in other parts of the world and whether this might threaten the fishermen's cetacean-hunting income. It might be useful to measure the potential benefits in a socioeconomic study, weighing the potential of whale and dolphin tourism, and the value of nature to St. Lucia's image, vs. the value from hunting to these families. There may also be some conservation implications to these hunts. Although 61
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The Potential of Whale Watching in
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CONTENTS Executive Summary 4 Author
Page 5 and 6:
• Caribbean whale watch operation
Page 7 and 8:
INTRODUCTION Slightly larger in are
Page 9 and 10: Table 1. Checklist for starting, ex
Page 11 and 12: swim-with-dolphin excursions into B
Page 13 and 14: worthy plan for this area, or one t
Page 15 and 16: Bahamian Dolphin Guidelines These g
Page 17 and 18: longest coastline in the Caribbean.
Page 19 and 20: magnet for tourists and is a good a
Page 21 and 22: Acknowledgments: Baker 1998, Dean B
Page 23 and 24: the high value that dedicated whale
Page 25 and 26: the communication and general knowl
Page 27 and 28: Protección de los Mamíferos Marin
Page 29 and 30: 2.1 The capture, hurting, killing,
Page 31 and 32: 6. Jamaica Population: 2,553,400. L
Page 33 and 34: (Figures above are latest figures f
Page 35 and 36: Desecheo), located in the Mona Pass
Page 37 and 38: 9. US Virgin Islands (USA), includi
Page 39 and 40: system allows him to hear and recor
Page 41 and 42: water below it. The coat of arms is
Page 43 and 44: Aruba Population: 89,000. Land area
Page 45 and 46: February through April, and occasio
Page 47 and 48: 15. Antigua and Barbuda (UK) Popula
Page 49 and 50: Guadeloupe, a French overseas depar
Page 51 and 52: 4) Ne pas passer plus de 30 minutes
Page 53 and 54: 1998, Jonathan Gordon and his colle
Page 55 and 56: 2. That it should be in the interes
Page 57 and 58: The following guidelines for whale
Page 59: February to April when the waters t
Page 63 and 64: avoid any negative impacts on the p
Page 65 and 66: 20. St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Page 67 and 68: However, taking mothers and calves
Page 69 and 70: 22. Barbados Population: 265,350. L
Page 71 and 72: frequency of Bryde's whale sighting
Page 73 and 74: Caribbean, as in most other parts o
Page 75 and 76: IFAW. 1996b. Cetacean Field Researc
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The Potential of Whale Watching in the Caribbean: 1999+

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