Tourism affecting whales, dolphins

Concern is mounting about the impact tourism is having on whales and dolphins around New Zealand's coastline.

An international eco-tourism conference in Dunedin yesterday heard that many of the whales and dolphins popular for tourism were endangered.

Mark Orams, of Massey University, said the potential to disturb their natural behaviour patterns had attracted "much research effort in recent times".

"Some research has suggested close approach by tourist boats for watching and in some cases swimming with dolphins and whales had altered the behaviour of the animals.

"It has been suggested this could be detrimental. One view is that the use of whales and dolphins as a tourist attraction can be seen as another form of harmful exploitation of these marine mammals."

Dr Orams said there was widespread concern about the impact of tourism on them.

By June last year, 75 eco-tourism operators had permits to watch and swim with whales and dolphins.

The New Zealand Tourism Board estimated that in 1996 14 per cent of visitors participated in dolphin watching and swimming activities.

One study on short-beaked common dolphins said the dolphins appeared to be "fed up" with the constant presence of a boat nearby.

Eco-tourism was growing at such a rate that it could have a significant impact on the natural attraction, Dr Orams said.

Studies of bottlenose dolphins in the Bay of Islands found they had become "sensitised" to swimmers and were avoiding people and boats as tourism levels increased.

Another report on Hector's dolphins in Akaroa Harbour reported a potential increase in boats hitting young dolphins.

"Of particular concern must be the issue of stress and its long-term implications for endangered species such as the Hector's dolphin - and endemic species that support significant tourism activity," Dr Orams said.

"What is certain is that research has a critical role to play in the long-term sustainability of the marine mammal tourism industry."

He said regular sperm whale visitors to Kaikoura were more tolerant of being watched by boats than transient whales.

Whale-watching off Kaikoura attracts up to one million visitors a year.

In Fiordland, 7 per cent of bottlenose dolphins had been scarred by collisions with boats, said Otago University marine ecologist David Lusseau. The eco-tourism industry needed to set up a standards certification scheme system to help tourists differentiate "people that care from people that don't care".

His three-year study for the Department of Conservation found dolphin-watching boats were having an adverse impact on individual dolphins and the dolphin community.

"I am afraid Doubtful Sound will become another Milford Sound, where about 7 per cent of the population bear scars from boat collisions and where dolphins avoid the fiord when boat traffic is too intense," he said.

DoC and Southland still had time to resolve the problem.

"Fiordland is not only a Southland treasure, but especially a treasure of New Zealand. It is necessary that all New Zealanders can take part in deciding what is to become of Fiordland. To do so, all New Zealanders need to be informed of the current situation."

Dolphin watching in Doubtful Sound has been increasing over the past 10 years and growth has raised concerns about the sustainability of the eco-tourism activity.

A recent Otago study found Fiordland was the most popular eco-tourism location/attraction last year.

- NZPA

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