Whale Watching Worldwide

Falkland Islands (Las Malvinas)
Year Number of
whale
watchers
AAGR: Number of
operators
Direct
expenditures
Indirect
Expenditures
Total
Expenditure
1991 None N/A None None None None
1994 Minimal N/A None None None None
1998 Minimal N/A None Minimal Minimal Minimal
2008 100 N/A 2 $5,500 $19,000 $24,500
Capital City: Stanley
Whale Watch Locations:
01: Stanley
02: Sea Lion Island
The Falkland Islands, also known as Las Malvinas, are located off the
southern coast of Argentina but governed by Britain, are renowned
for their diverse wildlife including sea birds, seals and sea lions,
penguins, whales and dolphins. Despite this, the island lacks a
formal whale watching industry. Our data for 2008 indicates that
few people undertake formal whale watching whilst visiting the
islands.
While two companies offered whale watching in 2008 only one operator conducted any trips. The tours
view sei whales that pass by the capital, Stanley, in February and April. On Sea Lion Island, land‐based trips
see colonies of sea lions, around which orcas are frequently seen.
The low number of whale watchers reported here is somewhat misleading, as there is substantial
opportunistic whale and dolphin watching on the many boat‐based and land‐based nature tours. Whales
and dolphins are used in marketing materials for these tours, but due to the focus on other wildlife we have
included only a small number as whale watchers.
Most visitors to the Falklands arrive by ship. An estimated 35 cruise ship companies visit the islands, often
as part of trips to Antarctica. Numbers of cruise ship arrivals in the last full season of 2007/08 was 62,203. Of
these tourists, many would see cetaceans as part of trips in inflatable dinghies around the outer islands. This
opportunistic viewing is part of broader nature watching expeditions and has not been counted in this study.
Only a small number of visitors arrive by air, with overnight visitors estimated at just over 6,000 for 2008.
Cetaceans are an important part of the attraction to this remote part of the world. Whales are common in
local waters, especially orcas and Commerson’s and Peale’s dolphins. New Island has been noted in tourism
literature as a common site for dolphin sightings by ships on longer cruises. Other islands noted for short‐
beaked common dolphin sightings include Saunders, Weddell and West Point Islands.
Main species: Large cetaceans:
sei whale, minke whale
Small cetaceans:
Commerson’s dolphin, Peale’s dolphin, orca
Tourists:
International 90%
Domestic 10%
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