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6.5 Summary of legal and illegal activity
There is a considerable amount of non-permitted activity around the country. This is ascribed to
difficulties in enforcing regulations pertaining to the approach of whales and the advertising of boatbased
whale watching. Advertising by non-permitted operators is fairly widespread. In some cases
this is highly visible and permanent, and often in direct competition with existing permit holders.
Whale watching operators can be broken down into 4 main types as follows:
• Permit holders: are legitimately permitted operators advertising and offering boat-based whale
watching trips aimed at viewing whales, though other species and attractions may feature. Though
generally found in the prime boat-based whale watching areas, more recent or less successful
permitted operators probably indicate areas where individuals see future opportunities for growth
and view the purchase of a permit as a pre-emptive attempt to gain a foothold in the industry in
their particular area (e.g. Areas 3, 5, 6, 11).
• Dedicated non-permitted operators: are non-permitted operators offering trips in which whales are
advertised as an attraction and which represent one of the main explicit aims of their tours.
Marketing may be carefully worded to avoid legal difficulties but confusion with legitimate permit
holders is easy and probably intentional. These operators are most likely to present the pool of
future or alternative permit holders. The majority of such operators are found in areas where there
is little existing activity by the current permit holder or where none currently exist e.g. Areas 1, 3, 5,
22 and 25. The existence of such operators and their continued success may be good indicators
of the viability of boat-based whale watching in a particular permit area.
• Incidental non-permitted operators: are non-permitted operators offering pleasure trips, marketed
on the basis that they may see a number of attractions, which include whales in season. These
operators largely view whales incidentally but in some cases may make special efforts to improve
their chances of seeing whales during their trips. They are differentiated from the previous
category by the lack of an explicit whale-focus on their trips. In addition to areas where dedicated
non-permitted operators are found, the majority of these operators appear to be located in centres
for generalised coastal tourism which present them with a substantial pool of “walk on” clientele.
Where no dedicated non-permitted operators exist, the presence of incidental operators only is
likely to indicate a highly seasonal or specialised tourism market, and often one where the whale
resource is relatively underutilised e.g. Areas 2 and 3. Conversely, larger areas which support
other boat-based tourism operators will also lend themselves to supporting incidental boat-based
whale watching e.g. Area 4.
• Opportunistic non-permitted operators: are non-permitted operators with access to boats but do
not primarily offer pleasure trips. They are usually dependent on diving, fishing charters and other
activities. During peak seasons or when activity in their preferred business is low they will take
clients out on pleasure trips, in some cases explicitly to view whales. They are, however,
categorised by the opportunistic and sporadic nature of their activity and the minimal marketing
done for that aspect of their business. This category is difficult to identify out of whale watching
season and theuir numbers may have been underestimated. Such operators are limited to areas
known as generalised coastal tourism destinations or large harbours with significant boat traffic.
The presence of such operators in the absence of other more active whale watching tourism may
indicate areas with low potential for boat-based whale watching at present.
KwaZulu-Natal is estimated to have the highest degree of non-permitted activity (Table 6.1). It also
has the highest number of potential permit holders for areas currently non-permitted.
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