Whale Watching Worldwide

(Hoyt, 1994). The authors calculated that currently 886,000 people go whale watching each year which brings in
US$278 million in direct and indirect expenditure.
Scotland
IFAW helped establish a combined whale watching and research operation from the Isle of Mull, Scotland in
1992 with the first Song of the Whale. As well as whale watching and education, research has been conducted
on minke whale behaviour and distribution (Leaper et al., 1997; MacLeod et al., 2004). Song of the Whale
returned in 1996 and again in 2002, in part conducting research on basking sharks in the run‐up to the successful
CITES listing proposal. The work in Scotland is one of a few long‐term studies of minke whales and involves the
same population that is also subject to commercial whaling by Norway. It may be possible to use the data
obtained to look at long‐term site fidelity of minke whales, which will have relevance to the ongoing IWC debate
about coastal whaling. IFAW has maintained links with the whale watching companies (who still continue to
collect data using Logger) and the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust. HWDT now runs its own research vessel
using many of the acoustic and visual research techniques developed by IFAW. Whale watching is now featured
in the Lonely Planet travel guide to Scotland with advice from IFAW on ensuring minimum disturbance to whales
(Leaper, 2008).
Seychelles
In 1980 IFAW, in support of the newly‐designated Indian Ocean Sanctuary, carried out an aerial whale survey.
The idea was to establish the feasibility of counting sperm whales in this region from a fixed‐wing aircraft and to
examine the possibility of small‐scale whale watching activity off Mahe. Unfortunately, it appeared from the
survey that the sperm whales that had been numerous in the 19th Century seemed to be virtually wiped out and
not sufficiently numerous on which to base whale watching operations.
South Africa
South Africa’s whale watching was initially shore‐based. In 1998, IFAW South Africa funded a fact‐finding mission
to New Zealand in order to benefit from the NZ experience managing boat‐based whale watching. Two
representatives from South Africa’s Chief Directorate of Sea Fisheries were accompanied by Jason Bell and met
with NZ government contacts in the Department of Conservation. New Zealand was chosen because of its
largely permit‐based regulation of the industry. The visit to New Zealand allowed South Africa to develop good
regulations prior to permitting boat‐based whale watching.
Since then, IFAW has contributed to a number of local whale watching activities, including launching the Walker
Bay “Whale Walk” in 2006 and further enhancing whale watching experiences in South Africa by producing
whale conservation awareness boards along the coastline. IFAW’s Whale Show presentation recently entered its
second season in Hermanus.
Taiwan
IFAW co‐sponsored the 10th Symposium on Cetacean Ecology & Conservation‐Toward A Sustainable Future of
Whale Watching, held in Taiwan in September, 2004 and though not represented at the meeting did provide
information on the development of responsible whale watching.
USA
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