Mechanisms for assessing the sustainability of swimming-with-whales tourism in the Great Barrier Reef

• Main Author: Curnock, Matthew I.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Austral; Balaenoptera acutorostrata; minke whale
• Online Access: https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/24896/2/02appendix3.avi; https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/24896/3/JCU_24896_Curnock_2010_thesis.pdf

An Australian Government sanctioned swimming-with-whales (SWW) tourism industry has developed in the northern Great Barrier Reef based on the austral winter migration of dwarf minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata subsp.). Nine Reef tour operators were granted special SWW endorsements/permits in 2003 by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and the industry has remained capped at this level. Permit conditions require these operators to (i) comply with a Code of Practice when encountering the whales, and (ii) report details of all encounters using Whale Sighting Sheets. The cumulative impacts of this tourism activity are uncertain and there are widespread concerns about the sustainability of swim-with-cetaceans programs. The geographic remoteness of these interactions in the Great Barrier Reef poses additional challenges for monitoring the activity. Adopting a 'sustainability science' approach, this study utilised a mixed methodology to investigate mechanisms for assessing the sustainability of this SWW tourism activity. Four studies were conducted over three minke whale seasons (2006-2008), which investigated: (1) The spatial and temporal distribution of dwarf minke whale encounters and SWW tourism operators' effort in the Great Barrier Reef, (2) The social values of dwarf minke whales and the SWW experience, (3) Management of the SWW activity, and (4) The development of sustainability objectives and indicators for future monitoring of the SWW activity. Study One examined the distribution of minke whale encounters across the northern Great Barrier Reef (n=854) and compared these with industry searching effort and site use in this region. It was found that almost three quarters of encounters occurred when vessels were moored at popular Reef dive sites or when at anchor behind reefs (i.e. the whales approached and interacted with stationary vessels). Using vessel effort and the whale sightings data, whale encounter rates and proportions of total encounter time to total vessel effort were calculated for ...