Whale Watching Worldwide

Types of tours: A range of boat‐based options including
yachts, inflatables, larger and smaller vessels.
Average adult ticket price: $37
Estimated employment
numbers:
175
Main whale watch season: June to September
Acknowledgements:
Sarah Haney and Jerry Conway at Canadian Whale Institute, Laurie Murison at Grand Manan Whale and Sea Bird
Research Station, several operators.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Year Number of
whale
watchers
AAGR Number of
operators
Direct
expenditure
Indirect
expenditure
Total
expenditure
1998 137,604 N/A 48 $3,159,000 $16,778,000 $19,937,000
2008 138,000 0% 35 $2,507,000 $14,262,000 $16,769,000
Whale Watch Locations:
01: St. John’s
02: Avalon Peninsula
Newfoundland and Labrador host considerable whale watching
activity, which has been at a steady level since 1998. Land‐based
whale watching is a large part of whale watcher numbers, with
whales visible from many of the major tourist landmarks. The
number of land‐based whale watchers has been estimated at
75,000, based on estimates from a local land‐based tourism
operator.
Commercial, boat‐based whale watching is centred on the Avalon
Peninsula, particularly Witless Bay and the capital, St. John’s. Most operators are on the island of
Newfoundland, with one small operator and other opportunistic watching on Labrador.
Whales are a major drawing card for tourism to Newfoundland, featuring heavily in promotional material
and on the official tourism website. Few operators run dedicated whale watching tours, but many
incorporate cetaceans into tours of the natural scenery, iceberg exploration, and puffin and other seabird
watching. Operators generally run boat tours from May to September. The tours focus initially on icebergs
and seabirds in May. Humpback, minke and fin whales migrate into the area in early June and stay until mid‐
September. Smaller cetaceans, mainly Atlantic white‐sided dolphins, are seen from late July to late
September.
Most operators are small businesses, often family owned, operating one or two boats, with capacity for 20‐
30 passengers. Some larger operators are based in St. John’s and Witless Bay, while several businesses are
also offering tours in inflatable boats. Boat cruises and inflatable trips run for between one and four hours.
Sea kayaking and hiking trips offer more perspectives on the abundant cetacean life in the area.
Like some other long‐running, mature whale watch areas worldwide, Newfoundland had seen a plateau in
the number whale watchers, and a slight decrease in the numbers of operators, as companies have
consolidated or specialised in other niche areas such as icebergs and bird watching.
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