Whale Watching Worldwide

considerably less than those departing from the San Juan Islands area: an average of $30 per adult and $20
per child for a two hour trip. These are offered by a local charter association.
Land‐based whale watching also has a strong presence in Washington, mainly overlooking Haro Strait, but
also along the Pacific coast. The most frequently visited location is Lime Kiln Point, set on the west side of
San Juan Island, which attracted 198,200 participants in 2008, officially recorded by the Whale Museum, to
watch the local orcas. According to local information, this figure is likely to be an underestimate due to
alternative park facilities installed in 2002 alongside the main whale watching platform that detours visitors
who are not counted in this estimate. If the annual growth rate between 1997 and 2002 (2.5%) is assumed
to be the same in the years since 2002, it could be expected that this number would be as high as 250,000
shore‐based whale watchers in Lime Kiln Point in 2008.
Other popular land‐based locations for spotting the southern resident orcas are Whidbey Island, Port
Townsend, Cape Flattery (where the Strait of Juan de Fuca joins the Pacific Ocean) and as far south as the
Kitsap Peninsula. Likewise, the Pacific coastline offers diverse locations to spot whales on shore, such as La
Push and Kalaloch Beach, although records are not collected at these locations. Farther south, close to the
border with Oregon State, the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center and the North Head Lighthouse also attract
visitors, mainly in December and March, when the gray whales migrate and can be spotted on shore.
Estimates for these locations have been calculated based on local tourism sources.
Considering the status of the main orca watching in the San Juan Islands area, it seems the industry has
reached a steady state. From a boom between 1997‐2001, the annual average number of commercial whale
watch vessels remained at nearly the same level between 1998‐2006 (Koski, 2006). Nevertheless, land‐
based whale watching is stimulating the development of new tourism growth and in response to this
demand, it was reported that there are plans to establish a land‐based Whale Trail for tourists in the region
following the very successful Whale Watching Spoken Here programme in Oregon.
Main species: Large cetaceans:
gray whale, minke whale, humpback whale
Small cetaceans:
orca, Dall’s porpoise, harbour porpoise
Tourists:
International 9%
Domestic 91%
Types of tours: Boat‐based, kayak, land‐based, air sighting,
half‐day, full‐day and multiple day tours
Average ticket price: $80 for a half‐day trip
$350 to $800 for 2 to 5 multi‐day
Estimated employment
335
numbers:
Main whale watch season: April to October
Acknowledgements:
Kari Koski of Whale Museum, Julie Tennis of Long Beach Area State Parks, Kayce Rodriguez of Parks Washington State,
Kathryn Hansen of San Juan County Parks, Chris of Western Prince, Shane Aggergaard of Island Adventures and other
Washington operators.
References:
Koski. K, 2006. Soundwatch Public Outreach/Boater Education Project. The Whale Museum, Friday Harbour,
Washington.
http://www.parks.wa.gov/parks/
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