Tourist Preferences for Southern Resident Killer Whale Whale Watching and Rule Changes in the Salish Sea

• Main Author: Schamp, Abby
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Western CEDAR 2022
• Subjects: Watchers; Killer Whale; Killer whale
• Online Access: https://cedar.wwu.edu/ssec/2022ssec/allsessions/144; https://cedar.wwu.edu/context/ssec/article/3306/viewcontent/Salish_20Sea_Schamp_Update.pdf

Wildlife tours often view protected species that are subject to additional conservation measures, such as Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) in the Salish Sea, Washington. Discrete Choice Experiment willingness-to-pay estimates for whale watching tour attributes that view SRKW were obtained from a survey of 1,442 potential whale watchers. Tourist responses to conservation measures and regulations were assessed by estimating demand after tour attribute changes and respondent exposure to information about new rules. Whale watchers did not report a reduced likelihood of going whale watching after learning about new rules, though they did have increased concern about the impact of whale watching vessels. While tourists did have a preference for viewing Killer Whales (KW), both SRKW and Transient KW, from a close viewing distance, most tourists were willing to go whale watching at wide attribute ranges including viewing distances from 100-300 yards, 3-20 boats in proximity while viewing whales, and 20-60 minutes spent with whales. This study contributes willingness-to-pay estimates for whale watching in the unique Salish Sea area for viewing SRKW, Transient KW, and Humpback Whales, in addition to demand change estimates under regulation changes. A framework for understanding possible conservation rule change effects on tourism and ways to reduce impacts on tour operators highlights the importance of viewing distance and total number of viewing boats regulations.