Behavior and movement of southern right whales: effects of boats and swimmers
Guidelines for sustainable swim-with tourism for large whales are not welldeveloped, as researchers have focused on delphinids. Nations that signed the Convention on Biological Diversity at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 are obligated to consider sustainable use principles when allowing...
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fttexasamuniv:oai:oaktrust.library.tamu.edu:1969.1/5909 2023-07-16T04:01:01+02:00 Behavior and movement of southern right whales: effects of boats and swimmers Lundquist, David Jeffrey Wursig, Bernd Biggs, Douglas Davis, Randall 2007-09-17 815743 bytes electronic application/pdf born digital https://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/5909 en_US eng Texas A&M University https://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/5909 Southern Right Whale Tourism swim-with-whale Eubalaena australis Peninsula Valdes whalewatching Book Thesis Electronic Thesis text 2007 fttexasamuniv 2023-06-27T22:15:36Z Guidelines for sustainable swim-with tourism for large whales are not welldeveloped, as researchers have focused on delphinids. Nations that signed the Convention on Biological Diversity at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 are obligated to consider sustainable use principles when allowing new ecotourism activities, yet the fast-growing worldwide swim-with-whales industry is lacking the research needed to create successful management guidelines that can be implemented by local communities. From September to November of 2005 and July to October of 2006, I collected movement and behavioral state data for southern right whales in proximity of swimmers at PenÃÂnsula Valdés, Argentina. Whales were observed before, during, and after a series of directed interactions with swimmers. I quantified the behavioral and movement effects relative to group composition of whales (mother/calf pairs, juveniles or adult/mixed groups) and activity level of swimmers. Group composition had a significant effect on the response of whales to swimmers. Swimmer activity level did not substantially affect the reaction of whales. Resting and socializing activities significantly decreased and traveling activities significantly increased when boats approached and when swimmers entered the water. Resting and socializing bout length in the presence of swimmers decreased to less than a third of the length of bouts when swimmers were not present. Whales swam faster, reoriented more often, and followed a less linear path during interactions. Effects were greater for mother/calf pairs than juveniles, while mixed adult/juvenile groups showed no significant changes in behavior or movement. The initial reaction of whales to the approach of the boat and the entry of swimmers into the water was a good predictor of the magnitude of effects on the behavior and movement patterns of the whale. Increased levels of activity are a concern for the whales that are resting and not feeding in this area. To provide quality resource management ... Book Southern Right Whale Texas A&M University Digital Repository Argentina |
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Texas A&M University Digital Repository |
op_collection_id |
fttexasamuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Southern Right Whale Tourism swim-with-whale Eubalaena australis Peninsula Valdes whalewatching |
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Southern Right Whale Tourism swim-with-whale Eubalaena australis Peninsula Valdes whalewatching Lundquist, David Jeffrey Behavior and movement of southern right whales: effects of boats and swimmers |
topic_facet |
Southern Right Whale Tourism swim-with-whale Eubalaena australis Peninsula Valdes whalewatching |
description |
Guidelines for sustainable swim-with tourism for large whales are not welldeveloped, as researchers have focused on delphinids. Nations that signed the Convention on Biological Diversity at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 are obligated to consider sustainable use principles when allowing new ecotourism activities, yet the fast-growing worldwide swim-with-whales industry is lacking the research needed to create successful management guidelines that can be implemented by local communities. From September to November of 2005 and July to October of 2006, I collected movement and behavioral state data for southern right whales in proximity of swimmers at PenÃÂnsula Valdés, Argentina. Whales were observed before, during, and after a series of directed interactions with swimmers. I quantified the behavioral and movement effects relative to group composition of whales (mother/calf pairs, juveniles or adult/mixed groups) and activity level of swimmers. Group composition had a significant effect on the response of whales to swimmers. Swimmer activity level did not substantially affect the reaction of whales. Resting and socializing activities significantly decreased and traveling activities significantly increased when boats approached and when swimmers entered the water. Resting and socializing bout length in the presence of swimmers decreased to less than a third of the length of bouts when swimmers were not present. Whales swam faster, reoriented more often, and followed a less linear path during interactions. Effects were greater for mother/calf pairs than juveniles, while mixed adult/juvenile groups showed no significant changes in behavior or movement. The initial reaction of whales to the approach of the boat and the entry of swimmers into the water was a good predictor of the magnitude of effects on the behavior and movement patterns of the whale. Increased levels of activity are a concern for the whales that are resting and not feeding in this area. To provide quality resource management ... |
author2 |
Wursig, Bernd Biggs, Douglas Davis, Randall |
format |
Book |
author |
Lundquist, David Jeffrey |
author_facet |
Lundquist, David Jeffrey |
author_sort |
Lundquist, David Jeffrey |
title |
Behavior and movement of southern right whales: effects of boats and swimmers |
title_short |
Behavior and movement of southern right whales: effects of boats and swimmers |
title_full |
Behavior and movement of southern right whales: effects of boats and swimmers |
title_fullStr |
Behavior and movement of southern right whales: effects of boats and swimmers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Behavior and movement of southern right whales: effects of boats and swimmers |
title_sort |
behavior and movement of southern right whales: effects of boats and swimmers |
publisher |
Texas A&M University |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/5909 |
geographic |
Argentina |
geographic_facet |
Argentina |
genre |
Southern Right Whale |
genre_facet |
Southern Right Whale |
op_relation |
https://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/5909 |
_version_ |
1771550416283107328 |