Whale Watching Worldwide
Whale Watching Worldwide
Whale Watching Worldwide
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Main species: Large cetaceans:<br />
humpback whale, sperm whale<br />
Small cetaceans:<br />
bottlenose dolphin, spinner dolphin<br />
Tourists:<br />
International 1%<br />
Domestic 99%<br />
Types of tours: Swim‐with trips, boat‐based watching and<br />
some land‐based watching of humpbacks.<br />
Average adult ticket price: $35 for boat‐based watching, $120 for swim‐<br />
with tours<br />
Estimated employment<br />
100<br />
numbers:<br />
Main whale watch season: Year‐round for dolphins, February to April for<br />
humpbacks and June to October for sperm<br />
whales in Ogasawara.<br />
Acknowledgements:<br />
Thanks to Tomomi Yokoyama at Miyakejima Tourism Association, Kyoichi Mori at Ogasawara <strong>Whale</strong> <strong>Watching</strong><br />
Association, Kazunobu Kogi at Mikurajima Tourism Association and seven operators.<br />
Hokkaido<br />
Year Number of<br />
whale<br />
watchers<br />
AAGR Number of<br />
operators<br />
Direct<br />
expenditure<br />
Indirect<br />
expenditure<br />
Total<br />
expenditure<br />
1998 6,027 N/A N/A $381,352 N/A N/A<br />
2008 10,420 5.6% 8 $717,875 $995,110 $1,712,985<br />
<strong>Whale</strong> Watch Locations:<br />
01: Rausu<br />
02: Muroran<br />
Hokkaido’s boat‐based whale and dolphin watching operations exist<br />
mainly in Rausu and Muroran. A volunteer organisation also takes<br />
occasional trips from Kushiro. All trips are run between May and<br />
October due to Hokkaido’s harsh winters. Winter trips to see ice<br />
floes and seals are possible, but few cetaceans are spotted.<br />
Most operators also offer fishing charters or scenic cruises; some<br />
are also inns that offer boat trips. During the summer, however,<br />
most run regular, dedicated whale watching trips, bringing<br />
considerable income to the regional economy. While there has been strong growth in whale watcher<br />
numbers since 1998, some smaller operations have ceased and the industry seems to have consolidated in<br />
Muroran and Rausu. In Rausu, the consolidation may be in part due to the designation of the nearby<br />
Shiretoko Biosphere Reserve focusing nature tourism on the town.<br />
Rausu sees the greatest variety of cetaceans, although many infrequently, with minke, sperm, Baird’s<br />
beaked whales, orcas, short‐finned pilot whales and dolphins. Other operators mainly target minke whales,<br />
Pacific white‐sided dolphins and porpoises.<br />
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