Whale Watching Worldwide

Florida and the Gulf States
Year Number of
whale
watchers
AAGR Number of
operators
Direct
expenditure
Indirect
expenditure
Total
expenditure
1998 61,000 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
2008 550,653 24.6% 125 $12,730,956 $27,532,643 $40,263,599
Whale Watch Locations:
01: Key West
02: Clearwater/St. Petersburg
03: Sanibel
04: Panama City
05: Destin
06: Orange Beach
07: South Padre Island
08: Port Aransas
09: Galveston
Florida has the longest running and most established cetacean
watching industry in this region, with Texas and Alabama only
starting up in the late 1990s. Louisiana and Mississippi have minimal activities. Bottlenose dolphins are the
main focus of cetacean tourism in the region. Because of the wide continental shelf in the Gulf, larger
cetaceans are rarely seen except in deeper water far from the coast.
Cetacean tourism in Florida and the Gulf States has increased significantly since IFAW’s 1998 study, which
estimated 61,000 for the region (E Hoyt, pers. comm., 2009). The main locations continue to be resorts and
tourist areas with most passengers being local and interstate US tourists.
Florida has some of the main dolphin watching areas in the United States, particularly on popular tourist
beaches from the Keys to the Panhandle. Major areas where dolphin watching tours are offered include Key
West, Clearwater/St. Petersburg, Sanibel, Panama City, Destin and Pensacola. Some small operators also
offer dolphin watching in the Florida Everglades.
In this report, we estimate that nearly 250,000 people participated in some form of dolphin watching in
2008, so there has been strong growth, despite Florida’s long history of dolphin watching (see boxed text).
One Florida Keys operator mentioned that in her area there had actually been a decline in recent years –
when she began 12 years ago there were 3 operators in the Key West area. This grew to over 21 between
the late 1990s and about 2005, before declining to what she sees as a more sustainable 13. The decline was
due to competition, consolidation and falls in tourism following hurricanes, and the recent economic
downturn.
Trips offered by Florida’s dolphin watch operators tend to be short, for two to four hours, costing $15‐$50
depending on length of time, other attractions and facilities. Many guarantee dolphin sightings or offer a
free second trip. Swim‐with‐dolphins trips are also common, particularly in Key West. They are usually run
from small boats for four hours, costing around $85 (see boxed text).
The Dolphin SMART programme aims to promote responsible viewing of wild dolphins by operators. It is a
partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA), the National Marine
Fisheries Service, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, and the Dolphin Ecology Project. The project
began in the Florida Keys and is now also being adopted in Alabama. Fifteen operators in Alabama
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