Whale and dolphin tourism 'world class'

A top professor in the study of whales and dolphins has named the Gascoyne’s whale and dolphin tourism sector “world class”.

Murdoch University Cetacean Research Unit Associate Professor Lars Bejder spent the past six years co-editing a 400-page book on the sustainability of whale and dolphin-related tourism.

The book, Whale Watching: Sustainable Tourism and Ecological Management, was released last week and contributed to by 50 scientists worldwide.

Mr Bejder said while the book’s findings provided scope for some concerns about the whale and dolphin watching industry, the Gascoyne’s management of humpback whale watching and bottlenose dolphin interaction was exemplary.

“You do it very well in the Gascoyne, I would say you are world class, there’s no doubt about that — if you can sustain adaptive management, you’ll be in good stead,” he said.

“Until 10 years ago, our thinking about whale watching was all black and white — whaling was bad, whale watching was good.

“Now, we can’t say that, our findings are that there’s been disturbance to animals in some cases, so we need to set up a framework to maintain a good standard.

“Getting away from black and white thinking is very important — we’re trying to portray all the different facets of it in this book, while making it very clear that we do like and support the industry.

“There are so many positive things about whale watching — it can create a very good understanding of the local environment through educating participants, and there are financial gains for regions and the different operators.

“If I were a tourist, or a local wanting to go out and see these animals, it’s worth doing a bit of research — do they have research programs, have they been accredited or won awards for sustainable practise?”