Responsible Whale Watching

WDC’S WORK TO PROMOTE
RESPONSIBLE WHALE WATCHING
WDC‘S WORK TO PROMOTE RESPONSIBLE WHALE WATCHING
In recent years, WDC has put policy into practice by promoting sustainable, wellmanaged
whale watching in a variety of ways, including:
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Running training workshops for operators and onboard naturalists: for
example, in Panama, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Colombia, Iceland, Tenerife, the
Azores, Japan, USA, Scotland and Sri Lanka.
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Creating educational materials and presentations for passengers and whale
watch naturalists.
Encouraging and assisting official agencies and other stakeholders to
employ “best practice” when drawing up or revising whale watch regulations
or guidelines, and calling for adequate monitoring and enforcement of
regulations and compliance with guidelines.
Promoting opportunities for well-managed land-based viewing where possible.
Promoting the “one third space and time” concept which offers whales and
dolphins a daily minimum respite period to prevent continuous targeting by
vessels 15 .
Carrying out our own research, including the long-term conservation benefits
of whale watching.
Promoting responsible viewing of blue whales and other whale species in
Sri Lanka under our Project BLUEprint programme. In cooperation with Sri
Lankan Airlines and ecotourism partners, this programme aims to develop
community-based whale watching in Mirissa and Kalpitiya and eventually
extend this model to other whale watch regions.
In the United States, WDC is a founding partner on three voluntary education
and recognition programmes:
i.) Dolphin SMART aims to promote responsible viewing and stewardship of
wild dolphins. Launched in 2007, the programme is a collaborative effort
between WDC, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s
(NOAA) National Marine Sanctuary Program, National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), Dolphin Ecology Project, and local dolphin-watch tour
operators. It currently has participating operators in Florida, Alabama,
and Hawaii.
www.dolphinsmart.org
ii.) WHALE SENSE is offered to commercial whale watching companies in
the Northeast US and Alaska through a partnership between WDC and
NOAA Fisheries Service.
www.whalesense.org
iii.) A further programme, See A Spout, Watch Out! is offered to recreational
vessel operators in the Northeast US through a partnership between
WDC, NOAA Fisheries Service, and the Stellwagen Bank National Marine
Sanctuary.
www.seeaspout.org
© WDC
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