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The Negative Impacts of Whale-Watching
Author
Source
Issue
Vol. 2012, Issue 2012 (31 Dec. 2012), pp.1-9, 9 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2012-08-15
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
9
Main Subjects
Earth Science , Water and Environment
Abstract EN
Whale watching is an international industry worth more than US$2 billion globally and is currently the greatest economic activity reliant upon cetaceans.
However, there is concern that whale watching is detrimental to the target species.
Numerous studies have shown that cetaceans exhibit behavioral changes in response to whale-watching boat traffic.
Some of these behavioral changes involve inhibiting biologically important behaviors such as feeding and resting.
There is convincing evidence for some species that these can translate into population-level effects such as reduced reproductive rates.
Whale watching can also cause direct mortality through collisions between vessels and animals.
The introduction of guidelines or regulations for whale watching has been the most common method of trying to mitigate the impacts of boat-based whale watching.
However, there is great variety in the comprehensiveness of guidelines, and even if operators have guidelines, compliance with them can be poor.
Compliance might be improved if guidelines have legal under-pinnings, with monitoring and enforcement or via pressure to comply by other operators and whale-watching tourists.
Simple guidelines may be more easily complied with that ones requiring specialist knowledge.
Likewise undertaking simple measures, such as establishing temporal or spatial “refuges” protecting biologically important areas (e.g., feeding grounds) where whale-watching activity is prohibited, could be an appropriate mitigation strategy.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Parsons, E. C. M. (Chris). 2012. The Negative Impacts of Whale-Watching. Journal of Marine Sciences،Vol. 2012, no. 2012, pp.1-9.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-997016
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Parsons, E. C. M. (Chris). The Negative Impacts of Whale-Watching. Journal of Marine Sciences No. 2012 (2012), pp.1-9.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-997016
American Medical Association (AMA)
Parsons, E. C. M. (Chris). The Negative Impacts of Whale-Watching. Journal of Marine Sciences. 2012. Vol. 2012, no. 2012, pp.1-9.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-997016
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-997016