Whale Watching Worldwide
Whale Watching Worldwide
Whale Watching Worldwide
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New Caledonia<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 />
1991 None N/A None None None None<br />
1994 None N/A None None None None<br />
1998 1,695 61.4% 16 $107,000 $268,000 $375,000<br />
2005 4,906 17% 18 $417,010 $614,250 $1,031,260<br />
2008 6,222 14% 54 24 $528,870 $778,085 $1,306,955<br />
Capital City: Noumea<br />
<strong>Whale</strong> Watch Locations:<br />
01: Southern Lagoon<br />
In recent years, New Caledonia has grown to become one of the<br />
South Pacific’s largest whale watching countries, and that growth<br />
has continued in the three years since 2005, albeit at a slightly<br />
slower rate (8% per year since 2005, with an average rate of 14% in<br />
the ten years from 1998 to 2008). The industry is based around<br />
seasonal visits of humpback whales in the July to September period.<br />
During these months, many local sailing boat charters dedicate<br />
themselves full‐time to whale watching, with 24 operators allowing viewing of cetaceans in the Southern<br />
Lagoon on peak weekends. There is also one dolphin watching operator in New Caledonia.<br />
The country has a long‐established, mature tourism industry that attracts around 100,000 visitor arrivals<br />
annually. However, interestingly, responses from operators and local researchers indicate that most whale<br />
watchers are local residents rather than international arrivals.<br />
With the continuing growth of whale watching in such a concentrated location, there are concerns regarding<br />
the impacts on the whales due to excessive exposure to boats. Currently, there remains no regulation on<br />
whale watching, however in 2008 a code of conduct was signed by the majority of operators, boat patrols<br />
were initiated and some training was delivered to operators by NGOs.<br />
54 AAGR from 1998 to 2008<br />
Main species: Large cetaceans:<br />
humpback whale<br />
Small cetaceans:<br />
bottlenose dolphin, spinner dolphin<br />
Tourists:<br />
International<br />
Domestic Predominantly domestic<br />
Types of tours: Boat‐based, dedicated trips<br />
Average adult ticket price: $94<br />
Estimated employment<br />
36<br />
numbers:<br />
Main whale watch season: July to September<br />
185
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