Tourists seeking to get an up-close look at whales could be harming the marine animals according to concerned conservationists.
Although chances to see whales come rarely, research has shown that whale-watching does negatively affect the lives of those animals. The whale watching industry has ballooned into a $2.1 billion industry with at least 13 million people from over 120 countries traveling to view the largest mammals on Earth. No conservationist has suggested that people who want to participate in whale-watching are seeking to harm the environment, but the effects can be devastating to whales' habitat by affecting their ability to feed their young. In the worst case scenarios, whales are killed by boats because of accidental collisions.
"In the short term a boat interacting with whales can disrupt their activities, like stopping them foraging for food or resting," said Dr. David Lusseau of the Institute of Biological and Environmental Science at the University of Aberdeen. "This can be no big deal once or twice, but problems start if this is repeated again and again over time. Whale watching is a big industry - in some places boats can go out 10 times a day."
Some countries have laws that limit whale-watching by limiting the amount of boats allowed on the water at one time and limited the speed they can travel, but effectively regulating these laws is difficult because the boats often go miles away from shore. Other countries have no laws to regulate whale-watching which absconds everyone involved from responsibility of protecting the endangered creatures.
The whale-watching industry can be beneficial to local communities, but a proper balance should be sought to ensure that the whales' survival is not at stake.
"The economic benefits for local communities can be really positive, but you need a balance," Dr. Lusseau continued, "If there is over exploitation and the whales are harmed in the long term then the industry will eventually collapse just like fishing."
