Scientific Literature: Searchable Database

Despite its reputation as an eco-tourist activity, there are concerns that the growing,often unregulated whale-watching industry may be impacting cetaceans. In 2001, avoluntary Code of Conduct for tour boat operators was introduced in Newfoundland andLabrador to minimize any such impacts.The objectives of the present study were to test the feasibility of this new code as amanagement strategy, to explore the educational value of whale watching for passengers,to evaluate the effects of tour boat activity on whales, and to assess the effectiveness ofcode guidelines. The study was carried out in Witless Bay, the island's most popularwhale-watching locale. Data were collected through operator surveys, passengerquestionnaires and observations of whale behaviour (and tour boat activities) from land,tour boats, independent research vessel, and via VHF-TDR tags.Operator compliance with the code was found to be low (about 25% of trips), asoperators tended to control the interaction with animals and frequently entered the 100 m exclusion zone. Passengers did not seem capable of enforcing the code, as they did not know the specific rules and were inclined to interpret operator behaviour benignly.The educational value of whale watching was low. Formal educational deliveriesdeveloped by the investigators proved to be more effective in delivering knowledge aboutwhale biology and the Code of Conduct. No post-trip increase in environmentalawareness was detected.Behavioural responses of humpbacks to tour boats included the adoption of a shortrangehorizontal avoidance strategy and higher frequencies of some surface activities.Compliance with the code was found to have only little effects, possibly reducingresponses such as trumpet blowing and tail slashes, but did not have an influence on thehorizontal response.When boat disturbance increased (i.e. more boats and/or more code infractions),whales' blow intervals changed, indicating possible shifts of behavioural patterns (from foraging to travelling). This may show that tour boat operators, by respecting the code orby maintaining a low number of infractions, may limit disturbance to the whales and theprobability of animals swimming away from the food source.Suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of whale watching management inNewfoundland and Labrador are provided.