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Increasing of whale-watching activities on humpback whales in Brazil: implications, monitoring and research

Authors

Cipolotti, SRC; Morete, ME; Basto, BI; Engel, MH; Marcovaldi, E

Year

2005

Journal

Report presented to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission

Keywords

Brazil, economic impact, humpback whale, management, Megaptera novaeangliae, regulation, whale watching

Abstract

Humpback Whales are present along the Coast of Bahia, Brazil, between June and November for breeding and calving. The species received full protection by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) since 1966. In Brazil, hunting was prohibited by Federal Decree nº 7643 in December 1987. With the rapid growth of whale watching worldwide, there is an increasing concern over the short and long-term impacts of vessel activity on whales. The whale watching activity in the Abrolhos Bank is in the “discovery phase”: the interest for the whales is increasing in the last four years. At Praia do Forte Beach, northern coast of the state, a four-year partnership between Instituto Baleia Jubarte and the whale watching company has achieved some important results. The present study involved the area since northern Espírito Santo State (18.59290ºS ; 39.73430ºW) until northern Bahia State (12.57753ºS; 38.00315ºW), in which were visited communities that already develop whale watching activities and that present some potential for future development of whale watching, making up 17 areas. Comparative results on the progress of whale watching activities in Praia do Forte, shows the raising interest for this activity. Porto Seguro, Guarajuba e Ilhéus are the villages with higher potential for future development of whale watching when considering structure for tourism, local access, harbor condition and concentration of whales. This growth leads to the necessity to review the Brazilian edict 117/96 (altered by nº 24, 08/02/2002) – IBAMA which regulates whale watching creating a responsible action plan providing management and organization of the activity, mainly due to the potential short and long term impacts, which can lead to disruption of the reproductive behavior.
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