CHARACTERIZATION OF WHALE-WATCHING ACTIVITY IN … ECS Nicolau etal.pdf · 2017. 4. 26. · Bonita...
Transcript of CHARACTERIZATION OF WHALE-WATCHING ACTIVITY IN … ECS Nicolau etal.pdf · 2017. 4. 26. · Bonita...
� Although whale-watching in Madeira Archipelago assumes a relevant economic and touristic role, it is still mainly done in a non-dedicated manner.� A continuous collaboration between whale-watching operators and research investigators in Madeira Archipelago potentiates the environmental
education role that this industry should have and that is significant for the tourists engaged in the activity and for the targeted animals.
(1) Madeira Whale Museum, 9200-032 Caniçal, Madeira, Portugal; [email protected](2) Department of Animal Biology and Institute of Oceanography, Faculty of Sciences of University of Lisbon, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal
INTRODUCTION
Whale-watching industry is growing rapidly worldwide, offering severaladvantages, at an educational, environmental, scientific and socio-economic level (Hoyt, 2000, 2005). In Madeira Archipelago there are 21cetacean species, occurring frequent or occasionally (Freitas etal., 2004) which are targeted by the whale-watching activity. It ismainly done in a non-dedicated manner, ruled by a voluntary code ofconduct proposed by the Madeira Whale Museum.
AIMSTo characterize the whale-watching activity in terms of: operatingboats, tourists and cetacean species targeted, before theimplementation of legislation.
METHODS
� Observations were made on the south coast of Madeira Island, land-based using Steiner® binoculars 15x80 and 25x80, and boat-based throughopportunistic trips on whale-watching boats. Data was collected betweenJanuary and September 2007, adding up to 500 hours of observation effort.� Data regarding boats’ characteristics were compiled and estimates of themonthly number of tourists (medium number of tourists x number oftrips/month) and the capital involved (monthly number of tourists x trip’sprice) were made.� Questionnaires evaluating the environmental awareness of the touristswere conducted.� The frequency of occurrence of cetaceans in the study area wasestimated.
RESULTS & DISCUSSION
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February March April May June July
Short beaked common dolphin Spotted dolphin Striped dolphin Delphinidae Bottlenose dolphin
Short finned pilot whale Bryde's whale Sperm whale Beaked whales
�The predominant use of inboard engines presents advantagesminimizing the production of noise, since the sounds are less intenseand thus reducing the disturbance on the animals (Au & Green, 2000).
� Estimates in 2003/2004: 40 000 tourists/year (Freitas et al., 2004). � Current estimates: around 58 000 tourists/2007
income of 1.5 million euros.
� Current results showed that tourists desired to have a higher and longercontact with cetaceans and did not perceive the impacts that whale-watching can cause on the cetaceans observed (Table II), contrary tostudies made in Tangalooma, Australia by Orams (2000) and in WestScotland by Parsons et al (2003).
� Occurrence of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, andshort-finned pilot whales, Globicephala macrorhynchus, throughoutthe study period is consistent with Freitas et al. (2004).� Contrary to the previous study was the presence of Atlanticspotted dolphins, Stenella frontalis, in winter months.� Bryde’s whales, Balaenoptera brydei, are also an exception, sincetheir presence is becoming more frequent throughout the years.
FINAL REMARKS
Au, W. W. L., Green, M., 2000. Acoustic interaction of humpack whales and whale-watching boats. Marine Environmental Research 49(2000): 469-481.Freitas, L., Dinis, A., Alves, F., Nóbrega, F., 2004. Cetáceos no Arquipélago da Madeira. Projecto para a Conservação dos Cetáceos no Arquipélago da Madeira. Ed.Madeira Whale Museum, Machico. 62pp.Hoyt, E., 2001. Whale watching 2001: worldwide tourism numbers, expenditures and expanding socioeconomic benefits. International Fund for Animal Welfare, Yarmouth Port, UK. 158pp.Hoyt, E., 2005. Sustainable ecotourism on Atlantic Islands, with special reference to whale watching, marine protected areas and sanctuaries for cetaceans. Biologyand Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 105B(3): 141-154.
Table I. Characteristics of whale-watching boats operating in Madeira Island in 2007. (n.d.= not determined)
Boats’ characteristics Number of tourists and income
Questionnaires
Table II. Questionnaires conducted to 58 tourists, regarding their encounters with cetaceans in a total of 44 whale-watching trips in Madeira Island.
Cetacean Species
Orams, M. B., 2000. Tourists getting close to whales, is it what whale-watching is all about? Tourism Management 21(2000): 561-569.Parsons, E. C. M., Warburton, C. A., Woods-Ballard, A., Hughes, A., Johnston, P., Bates, H., Lück, M., 2003. Whale-watching Tourists inWest Scotland. Journal of Ecotourism 2(2): 93-113.
REFE
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Fig. 1. Frequency (number sightings/hour) of the observed species from a land-based station, from February to July 2007 in Madeira Island.
Freq
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y (n
umbe
r si
ghtin
gs/h
our)
� 10 species were sighted (9 through land-based observations, fig. 1), with small delphinids and Bryde´s whales being the most sighted by the whale-watching boats.
Name SeaBorn SeaPleasure ZonaCatNau
Sta. MariaVentura Gavião
Bonita da Madeira
Ribeira Brava
Cetáceos I and II
Type Catamaran Catamaran Catamaran Sailboat Sailboat Sailboat Sailboat Fishing boat Semi-rigids
Lenght (m) 22,86 19,50 18,15 22,30 14,70 13,10 20,70 12,00 8,50Width (m) 10,50 10,00 9,07 7,00 4,20 3,66 6,20 4,00 2,95Capacity
(nr. persons)100 70 40 100 18 20 46 20 12
Nr. Engines 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 2
Engines' characteristics
170 HP, inboards
62 HP, inboards
62 HP, inboards
455 HP, inboard
83 HP, inboard
140 HP, inboard
355 HP, inboard
211 HP, inboard
150 HP, outboards
Date of construction
2004 2004 n.d. 1998 1965 1997 1996 1964 2007
Start of theactivity
2004 2004 2004 2001 2003 2003 2003 2004 2007
Questions Yes No
Did you wish to be longer with the animals? 57% 43%
Did you wish to be closer to the animals?41% 59%
Do you think whale-watching does any harm to the animals?19% 81%
C. Nicolau
CHARACTERIZATION OF WHALE-WATCHINGACTIVITY IN MADEIRA ARCHIPELAGO
(SE NORTH ATLANTIC), PORTUGALCátia Nicolau (1), Rita Ferreira (1,2), Ana Dinis (1) , Carlos Assis (2) & Luís Freitas (1)
www.museudabaleia.org
Co-financed by:
Project EMECETUS 05/MAC/4.2/M10www.emecetus.com
� 10 boats, presenting different characteristics (table I), operate inMadeira Island.� Only 2 of the boats (Cetáceos I and II) are exclusively dedicated towhale-watching while the others are engaged in sightseeing trips withnon-dedicated whale-watching.