Responsible Whale Watching

THE BENEFITS OF
WHALE WATCHING
THE BENEFITS OF WHALE WATCHING
Whale watching has huge potential to deliver benefits to both people and whales,
but it is essential that the experience on offer is of a sufficiently high standard to
provide not only an economic benefit to operators and local communities, but
equally important, benefit whale watchers; the whales, dolphins and porpoises
(collectively known as cetaceans) and the marine environment as a whole.
Benefits to whale watch passengers
Responsible whale watching
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offers the opportunity to see whales and dolphins in their natural habitat rather
than in a captive setting, and therefore to witness more natural behaviour.
■ ■ offers the opportunity to learn about cetaceans and their natural environment,
and also the threats they face (e.g. via leaflets & brochures, events, onboard
narration, interpretation centres, etc.) On occasion, passengers may even
experience first-hand an encounter with entangled, injured or otherwise distressed
whales or dolphins and thus get to learn about the way to act in such
situations.
■ ■ often inspires advocacy for whales and dolphins, and their environment 2 .
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offers people living in whaling regions the opportunity to meet and foster an
appreciation for live whales and thus promote attitude change.
Benefits to research and conservation of whales and dolphins and their habitat
Responsibly-managed whale watching vessels
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offer valuable platforms for benign research and data collection on the behaviour
and ecology of whales and dolphins (including abundance and distribution;
life history; behaviour and interactions with their environment; culture;
threats, and health assessments).
provide ‘eyes on the water’ and thus reduce the risk that watched whales and
dolphins will be disturbed or even struck. They can also report important
whale sightings or behaviours; identify entangled whales or whales in distress,
and monitor them until expert assistance arrives.
Economic benefits
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Whale watching offers an important source of income for coastal communities
and regions, providing jobs and contributing to the development of the local
tourism infrastructure.
Whales are long-lived creatures and, if watched responsibly, may be viewed
in the wild over many decades. From an economic viewpoint (in addition to
obvious conservation and ethical perspectives), they are therefore ‘worth’
considerably more alive than dead 3 . In many regions, e.g. Iceland, the whale
watch industry is many times more profitable than whaling 4 .
© Fabian Ritter
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