Getting closer to whales - passenger expectations and experiences, and the management of swim with dwarf minke whale interactions in the Great Barrier Reef
Whale-watching tourism is a growth industry worldwide. In Australia, with whale-watchers approaching one million per annum there has been considerable effort to develop management regimes that protect the whales while enabling the development of a sustainable ecotourism industry. A mixture of Nation...
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2004
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Online Access: | https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/1035/1/Valentine_et_al_2004_Tsm_Mgt.pdf |
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ftjamescook:oai:researchonline.jcu.edu.au:1035 2024-02-11T10:02:18+01:00 Getting closer to whales - passenger expectations and experiences, and the management of swim with dwarf minke whale interactions in the Great Barrier Reef Valentine, Peter S. Birtles, Alastair Curnock, Matt Arnold, Peter Dunstan, Andy 2004-12 application/pdf https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/1035/1/Valentine_et_al_2004_Tsm_Mgt.pdf unknown Elsevier http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2003.09.001 https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/1035/ https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/1035/1/Valentine_et_al_2004_Tsm_Mgt.pdf Valentine, Peter S., Birtles, Alastair, Curnock, Matt, Arnold, Peter, and Dunstan, Andy (2004) Getting closer to whales - passenger expectations and experiences, and the management of swim with dwarf minke whale interactions in the Great Barrier Reef. Tourism Management, 25 (6). pp. 647-655. restricted Article PeerReviewed 2004 ftjamescook https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2003.09.001 2024-01-22T23:20:50Z Whale-watching tourism is a growth industry worldwide. In Australia, with whale-watchers approaching one million per annum there has been considerable effort to develop management regimes that protect the whales while enabling the development of a sustainable ecotourism industry. A mixture of National and State laws and regulations have governed the industry (Tourism based on free-ranging marine wildlife: opportunities and responsibilities, Wildlife Tourism Research Report No. 11, Status Assessment of Wildlife Tourism in Australia Series, CRC for Sustainable Tourism, Gold Coast, Queensland) but these have been mainly derived from experiences with humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) whale watching from vessels at sea. In this article we describe the development and nature of new and rapidly growing swim-with-whales operations based on the dwarf minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in the Great Barrier Reef of northern Queensland. The distinctly different quality of these operations raise interesting questions for long-term management (Towards sustainable management of the developing dwarf minke whale tourism industry in northern Queensland, CRC Reef Research Technical Report 27, James Cook University of North Queensland, 30pp (emended version of SC/50/WW1)). In the 1999–2000 seasons, 453 passengers (88.1% of respondents) swam with minke whales. Only 25% of visitors came specifically for the whale interactions and 43% learned of the whales on board the vessel. Passengers thus had low expectations about whales and encounters. A variety of factors, including the diving experience, particular dive sites, a range of wildlife species and socializing contributed to visitor satisfaction. Nonetheless, there was a significant correlation between visitor satisfaction and closeness of approaches by the whales, total number of whales seen and total time spent with whales. We discuss the key issues associated with swim-with-whales programs in the light of our findings. The cooperative engagement of tourism operators, ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Balaenoptera acutorostrata Megaptera novaeangliae minke whale James Cook University, Australia: ResearchOnline@JCU Queensland Watchers ENVELOPE(-56.115,-56.115,50.750,50.750) Tourism Management 25 6 647 655 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
James Cook University, Australia: ResearchOnline@JCU |
op_collection_id |
ftjamescook |
language |
unknown |
description |
Whale-watching tourism is a growth industry worldwide. In Australia, with whale-watchers approaching one million per annum there has been considerable effort to develop management regimes that protect the whales while enabling the development of a sustainable ecotourism industry. A mixture of National and State laws and regulations have governed the industry (Tourism based on free-ranging marine wildlife: opportunities and responsibilities, Wildlife Tourism Research Report No. 11, Status Assessment of Wildlife Tourism in Australia Series, CRC for Sustainable Tourism, Gold Coast, Queensland) but these have been mainly derived from experiences with humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) whale watching from vessels at sea. In this article we describe the development and nature of new and rapidly growing swim-with-whales operations based on the dwarf minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in the Great Barrier Reef of northern Queensland. The distinctly different quality of these operations raise interesting questions for long-term management (Towards sustainable management of the developing dwarf minke whale tourism industry in northern Queensland, CRC Reef Research Technical Report 27, James Cook University of North Queensland, 30pp (emended version of SC/50/WW1)). In the 1999–2000 seasons, 453 passengers (88.1% of respondents) swam with minke whales. Only 25% of visitors came specifically for the whale interactions and 43% learned of the whales on board the vessel. Passengers thus had low expectations about whales and encounters. A variety of factors, including the diving experience, particular dive sites, a range of wildlife species and socializing contributed to visitor satisfaction. Nonetheless, there was a significant correlation between visitor satisfaction and closeness of approaches by the whales, total number of whales seen and total time spent with whales. We discuss the key issues associated with swim-with-whales programs in the light of our findings. The cooperative engagement of tourism operators, ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Valentine, Peter S. Birtles, Alastair Curnock, Matt Arnold, Peter Dunstan, Andy |
spellingShingle |
Valentine, Peter S. Birtles, Alastair Curnock, Matt Arnold, Peter Dunstan, Andy Getting closer to whales - passenger expectations and experiences, and the management of swim with dwarf minke whale interactions in the Great Barrier Reef |
author_facet |
Valentine, Peter S. Birtles, Alastair Curnock, Matt Arnold, Peter Dunstan, Andy |
author_sort |
Valentine, Peter S. |
title |
Getting closer to whales - passenger expectations and experiences, and the management of swim with dwarf minke whale interactions in the Great Barrier Reef |
title_short |
Getting closer to whales - passenger expectations and experiences, and the management of swim with dwarf minke whale interactions in the Great Barrier Reef |
title_full |
Getting closer to whales - passenger expectations and experiences, and the management of swim with dwarf minke whale interactions in the Great Barrier Reef |
title_fullStr |
Getting closer to whales - passenger expectations and experiences, and the management of swim with dwarf minke whale interactions in the Great Barrier Reef |
title_full_unstemmed |
Getting closer to whales - passenger expectations and experiences, and the management of swim with dwarf minke whale interactions in the Great Barrier Reef |
title_sort |
getting closer to whales - passenger expectations and experiences, and the management of swim with dwarf minke whale interactions in the great barrier reef |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/1035/1/Valentine_et_al_2004_Tsm_Mgt.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-56.115,-56.115,50.750,50.750) |
geographic |
Queensland Watchers |
geographic_facet |
Queensland Watchers |
genre |
Balaenoptera acutorostrata Megaptera novaeangliae minke whale |
genre_facet |
Balaenoptera acutorostrata Megaptera novaeangliae minke whale |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2003.09.001 https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/1035/ https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/1035/1/Valentine_et_al_2004_Tsm_Mgt.pdf Valentine, Peter S., Birtles, Alastair, Curnock, Matt, Arnold, Peter, and Dunstan, Andy (2004) Getting closer to whales - passenger expectations and experiences, and the management of swim with dwarf minke whale interactions in the Great Barrier Reef. Tourism Management, 25 (6). pp. 647-655. |
op_rights |
restricted |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2003.09.001 |
container_title |
Tourism Management |
container_volume |
25 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
647 |
op_container_end_page |
655 |
_version_ |
1790598244044111872 |