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Whale Watching Worldwide

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Venezuela<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 Minimal N/A Minimal Minimal Minimal Minimal<br />

1994 Minimal N/A Minimal Minimal Minimal Minimal<br />

1998 Minimal N/A Minimal Minimal Minimal Minimal<br />

2006 9,757 58.1% 130 $240,034 $758,625 $998,659<br />

Capital City: Caracas<br />

<strong>Whale</strong> Watch Locations:<br />

01: Mochima National Park<br />

02: Margarita Island<br />

03: Puerto la Cruz<br />

Venezuela has tours that include dolphin and occasional large whale<br />

watching in many areas of its broad coastline and inland water<br />

courses – from the Caribbean coast, Amazon and Orinoco basins to<br />

Lake Maracaibo and the Gulf of Venezuela.<br />

The most popular location for dolphin watching is Mochima, a<br />

national park on the Caribbean coast in the northeast of the country.<br />

Over 5,000 tourists, mainly domestic, take part in small boat tours to see long‐beaked common dolphins and<br />

occasionally Bryde’s whales in this region.<br />

Other larger locations include El Guamache, Margarita Island and Lechería, Puerto la Cruz, Anzoátegui State.<br />

Nature cruises in the Amazon basin and Orinoco also sometimes encounter cetaceans.<br />

Main species: Large cetaceans:<br />

Bryde's whale<br />

Small cetaceans:<br />

bottlenose dolphin,<br />

long‐beaked common dolphin, Atlantic<br />

spotted dolphin, tucuxi<br />

Tourists:<br />

International<br />

Domestic Mainly domestic<br />

Types of tours: Boat‐based nature trips. Some dedicated,<br />

some opportunistic watching<br />

Average adult ticket price: $12 at Mochima, the most popular location.<br />

Estimated employment<br />

173<br />

numbers:<br />

Main whale watch season: November to February<br />

References:<br />

Hoyt, E & Iñíguez, M 2008, ‘The State of <strong>Whale</strong> <strong>Watching</strong> in Latin America’, WDCS, Chippenham, UK; IFAW, Yarmouth<br />

Port, USA; and Global Ocean, London, 60 pp..<br />

282

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