The spectacle of a huge whale leaping clear above the waves is one of Nature’s most awesome sights. And the haunting songs of these ocean giants have fascinated and intrigued scientists for generations.
After being hunted almost to extinction in the Sixties and Seventies whales have since captured the imagination of countless millions of people across the globe and sparked a new phenomenon – whale watching.
This offshoot of the travel industry has witnessed an explosive global growth and huge economic impact, and now generates more than $1bn a year in tourist revenue. Annually, it is estimated that about ten million people go whale watching in 90 countries.
Dr Susan Lieberman, director of the World Wildlife Fund’s Global Species Programme, welcomes this expansion and says: “Whale watching eco-tourism is developing into a multi-million pound industry, keeping whales alive while helping coastal communities.”
Whale watching has grown from humble beginnings in the Fifties to become an almost universal human passion, according to Fred O’Regan, president of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
“This new industry has begun to make a dramatic difference in coastal communities worldwide,” he adds. “Whale watching educates children and adults about our ocean planet, the magnificent creatures that share our world, and the importance of maintaining their habitat. It also provides a method for scientists to gain substantial information and monitoring capability…and thereby contributes to their conservation.”
In 1991, only 31 countries were involved in whale watching and the tourist numbers were about four million people. But by 1998 this figure had grown to nine million. Expenditure figures also reflect phenomenal growth – from £311m in 1994 to £655m in 1998.
Whale watching is now carried out in about 500 communities around the world – nearly 200 more than in 1994, in areas stretching from the Far East and Australasia to the shores of Europe and America. Recent newcomers to the world of whale watching include St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, Namibia, Oman, Taiwan, Fiji and the Solomon Islands.
In many places, whale watching provides valuable, sometimes crucial income to a community with the creation of new jobs and businesses. It helps foster an appreciation of the importance of marine conservation and provides a ready platform for researchers wanting to study cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) or the marine environment.
By offering towns and villages a sense of identity and considerable pride, whale watching is literally transforming the community in a number of places.
There are 41 known species of whale – 26 toothed whales, such as the sperm whale and bottlenose, and15 baleen whales, which have plates for filtering food from water, rather than teeth, and include the humpback whale and blue whale.
Most common species for whale watching expeditions are the humpback, gray, blue, minke and sperm whales.
Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, called humpbacks (so-called because of the way they arch their backs out of the water when diving) “the most gamesome and light-hearted of all the whales.” They are also the most communicative. Their long, complex songs, produced by forcing air through their vast noses, since they have no vocal cords, repeat patterns of low notes for up to days at a time. But only the males sing and only when in warm waters. Scientists believe mating is the main purpose but that singing has many other unknown uses. There are now reckoned to be 35,000 humpbacks, compared to the 20,000 of 30 years ago, and Tonga, in the southern Pacific, estimates that every live humpback is worth a million dollars to the small island country’s economy during its lifetime.
Other places transformed by the economic power of whale watching tourism span the globe, stretching from Kaikoura, in New Zealand, to Jusavik, Iceland; Provincetown, Massachusetts; Ogata, Japan; Andenes, Norway; Hermanus, South Africa; San Julian, Argentina; Dingle, Ireland; and Guerrero Negro in Mexico.
Most popular way to spot whales in their natural habitat is from the deck of a boat , although more than 2.55 million people in ten countries participate annually in land-based whale watching.
Iceland has experienced an astonishing boom in whale watching, with figures released by the International Fund for Animal Welfare showing that between 1994 and 1998 there was a 250 percent annual increase, the highest in the world. One out of every eight visitors now goes whale watching and total expenditure is between $10m and $13.5m.
There are now about a dozen whale watch operators along the north, south and west coasts. Beautifully restored oak fishing boats, motor cruisers, catamarans and even vessels once used to hunt minke whales have all been customised – and they boast an astonishing sighting success rate of nearly 100 percent.
Iceland, the “land of ice and fire,“ is a nature-lover’s paradise and this spectacular setting draws many whale watchers, keen to spot minke whales in the orange glow of the midnight sun or sail alongside blue whales within sight of Mount Hekla, one of the world’s most famous volcanoes.
Elsewhere, there are now dozens of whale festivals in coastal resorts – with California staging nine. On some Caribbean islands, whale watch operators now market their tours through cruise ships, adding considerable cruise ship money to the local economy. And there is now a Caribbean Whale Watch Association.
In the Mediterranean, whale watching moved into a higher gear with the establishment in 1999 of the International Ligurian Sea Cetacean Sanctuary by Italy, France and Monaco. This is now a marine protected area and a main feeding ground for fin whales.
In Britain, whale watchers routinely crowd the top decks on P&O and Brittany ferries sailing to Spain, on the lookout for about 16 species of cetaceans in the English Channel and Bay of Biscay.
“Whale safaris” at Andenes, northern Norway, are immensely popular and in the Tysfjord area in autumn, orcas come in close to shore to feed on herring. Visitors come from more than 30 countries to these two locations.
Each year, southern right whales migrate from Antarctica to calve in the sheltered bays of the east coast of South Africa. From July to November, Walker Bay, a 90-minute drive east of Cape Town is a spectacular vantage point. The town of Hermanus even employs a “whale crier” to announce sightings.
Whether you are planning the trip of a lifetime to see whales in Antarctica or Australia or just a half-day excursion as part of a holiday or business trip to Boston, you face a bewildering choice.
For an expert view, It’s worth considering the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society’s own travel wing, Out Of The Blue, with destinations that include Alaska, the Azores, Argentina, Spain, the Dominican Republic and, closer to home, the Isle of Mull.Their website, www.wdcs.org, is packed with information.
In Britain the main locations for spotting minke, long-finned pilot and killer whales are Northumbria, Cornwall, Devon, Pembrokeshire, Gwynedd, the Hebrides, Northern Isles, Highland and Grampian, with the prime season being May to early October.
It is tipped to grow by anything up to 15 percent annually, the business of Whale Watching compares very favourably with global tourism’s three to four percent expansion predicted by the World Tourism Organisation.
