Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T21:37:13.671Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

13 - Understanding the ecological effects of whale-watching on cetaceans

from Part III - Ecological dimensions of whale-watching

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2014

By
Fredrik Christiansen  and
David Lusseau
Edited by
James Higham ,
Lars Bejder  and
Rob Williams
Fredrik Christiansen
Affiliation:
Deakin University
David Lusseau
Affiliation:
University of Aberdeen
James Higham
Affiliation:
University of Otago, New Zealand
Lars Bejder
Affiliation:
Murdoch University, Western Australia
Rob Williams
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews, Scotland
Get access

Summary

Introduction

Whale-watching is a potentially sustainable use of cetaceans and an economically viable alternative to whaling and has become a major contributor to the tourism sector of many countries (Hoyt, 2001; O’Connor et al., 2009). Whale-watching also has the potential to improve people's attitude toward the marine environment, and promote public awareness and support for the conservation issues that targeted species face (Duffus & Dearden, 1993). However, whale-watching can put cetaceans at risk of being harassed and injured by an unknown number of unpredictable impacts which can pose a risk to the viability of the targeted population, as well as the whale-watching industry itself.

Reported effects of human disturbance on ceta-ceans cover a range of taxa, including many odontocete species and several species of mysticetes (see Chapter 16). Even though many studies have shown that whale-watching can cause both short- (Nowacek et al., 2001; Williams et al., 2002b; Lusseau, 2003a; Christiansen et al., 2010) and long-term negative effects on cetaceans (Bejder et al., 2006; Fortuna, 2006; Lusseau et al., 2006b), few studies have focused on explaining the underlying cause, or ecological and evolutionary mechanisms for these effects (Frid & Dill, 2002). Understanding how human interactions affect wildlife is crucial for the sustainable management of any nature-based tourism activity. This chapter address-es the ecological foundations of whale-watching disturbance on cetaceans. It gives an overview of the documented impacts of whale-watching on cetaceans and compares this to observations of natural predation. It then tries to explain how whale-watching is perceived by the animals to understand the underlying ecological and evolutionary basis for these responses. It goes on to discuss different factors that are likely to influence the response of animals to whale-watching. We then discuss the long-term effects of whale-watching on cetaceans by following the mechanistic link between behavioural effects and vital rates within an energetic framework. Ecological and biological constraints to the ability of cetaceans to cope with disturbance are discussed as well as their implication for long-term vital rates.

Type
Chapter
Information
Whale-watching
Sustainable Tourism and Ecological Management
 , pp. 177 - 192
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, M.C. & Read, A.J. (2000). Habitat selection of foraging bottlenose dolphins in relation to boat density near Clearwater, Florida. Marine Mammal Science 16, 815–824.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashe, E., Noren, D.P. & Williams, R. (2010). Animal behaviour and marine protected areas: Incorporating behavioural data into the selection of marine protected areas for an endangered killer whale population. Animal Conservation 13, 196–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aubin, D.J.S., Ridgeway, S.H., Wells, R.S. & Rhinehart, H. (1996). Dolphin thyroid and adrenal hormones: Circulating levels in wild and semidomesticated Tursiops truncatus, and influence of sex, age and season. Marine Mammal Science 12, 21–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beale, C.M. & Monaghan, P. (2004a). Behavioural responses to human disturbance: A matter of choice?Animal Behaviour 68, 1065–1069.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beale, C.M. & Monaghan, P. (2004b). Human disturbance: People as predation-free predators?Journal of Applied Ecology 41, 335–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bejder, L., Dawson, S.M. & Harraway, J. (1999). Responses by Hector's dolphins to boats and swimmers in Porpoise Bay, New Zealand. Marine Mammal Science 15, 738–750.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bejder, L., Samuels, A., Whitehead, H., et al. (2006). Decline in relative abundance of bottlenose dolphins exposed to long-term disturbance. Conservation Biology 20, 1791–1798.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bejder, L., Samuels, A., Whitehead, H., et al. (2009). Impact assessment research: Use and misuse of habituation, sensitisation and tolerance in describing wildlife responses to anthropogenic stimuli. Marine Ecology Progress Series 395, 177–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, A.M. & Sih, A. (2007). Exposure to predation generates personality in threespined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Ecology Letters 10, 828–834.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blanc, R., Guillemain, M., Mouronval, J., et al. (2006). Effects of non-consumptive leisure disturbance to wildlife. Revue d’Ecologie (la Terre et la Vie) 61, 117–133.Google Scholar
Bouskila, A. & Blumstein, D.T. (1992). Rules of thumb for predation hazard assessment: Predictions from a dynamic model. American Naturalist 139, 161–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, J.S. (1999). Vigilance, patch use and habitat selection: Foraging under predation risk. Evolutionary Ecology Research 1, 49–71.Google Scholar
Carney, K.M. & Sydeman, W.J. (1999). A review of human disturbance effects on nesting colonial waterbirds. Waterbirds 22, 68–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christiansen, F., Lusseau, D., Stensland, E. & Berggren, P. (2010). Effects of tourist boats on the behaviour of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins off the south coast of Zanzibar. Endangered Species Research 11, 91–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connor, R.C. & Norris, K.S. (1982). Are dolphins reciprocal altruists?The American Naturalist 119, 358–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Constantine, R. (2001). Increased avoidance of swimmers by wild bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) due to long-term exposure to swim-with-dolphin tourism. Marine Mammal Science 17, 689–702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corkeron, P.J. & Connor, R.C. (1999). Why do baleen whales migrate?Marine Mammal Science 15, 1228–1245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costa, D.P. (1993). The relationship between reproductive and foraging energetics and the evolution of the Pinnipedia. Symposia of the Zoological Society of London 66, 293–314.Google Scholar
Creel, S. & Winnie, J.A. (2005). Responses of elk herd size to fine-scale spatial and temporal variation in the risk of predation by wolves. Animal Behaviour 69, 1181–1189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Creel, S., Winnie, J., Maxwell, B., et al. (2005). Elk alter habitat selection as an antipredator response to wolves. Ecology 86, 3387–3397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Creel, S., Christianson, D., Liley, S. & WinnieJr, J.A. (2007). Predation risk affects reproductive physiology and demography of elk. Science 315, 960.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duffus, D.A. & Dearden, P. (1993). Recreational use, valuation, and management of killer whales (Orcinus orca) on Canada's Pacific Coast. Environmental Conservation 20, 149–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, E.F. (2002). Behavioral contributions to separation and subsequent mortality of dolphin calves chased by tuna purse-seiners in the Eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. Administrative Report: LJ–02–28.
Fair, P.A. & Becker, P.R. (2000). Reviews of stress in marine mammals. Journal of Aquatic Ecosystem Stress and Recovery 7, 335–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ford, J.K.B., Ellis, G.M., Matkin, D.R., et al. (2005). Killer whale attacks on minke whales: Prey capture and antipredator tactics. Marine Mammal Science 21(4), 603–618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fortuna, C.M. (2006). Ecology and conservation of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the North-Eastern Adriatic Sea. PhD Thesis, University of St Andrews, UK.
Fowler, G.S. (1999). Behavioral and hormonal responses of Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) to tourism and nest site visitation. Biological Conservation 90, 143–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frid, A. & Dill, L.M. (2002). Human caused disturbance stimuli as a form of predation risk. Conservation Ecology 6(1): 11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, J.A. & Sutherland, W.J. (2000). Predicting the consequences of human disturbance from behavioural decisions. In Gosling, L.M. & Sutherland, W.J. (Eds), Behaviour and Conservation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 51–64.Google Scholar
Gill, J.A., Norris, K.S. & Sutherland, W.J. (2001). Why behavioural responses may not reflect the population consequences of human disturbance. Biological Conservation 97, 265–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gormley, A.M., Slooten, E., Dawson, S., et al. (2012). First evidence that marine protected areas can work for marine mammals. Journal of Applied Ecology 49, 474–480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heithaus, M.R. (2001). Predator–prey and competitive interactions between sharks (order Selachii) and dolphins (suborder Odontoceti): A review. Journal of Zoology (London) 253, 53–68.CrossRef
Heithaus, M.R. & Dill, L.M. (2002). Food availability and tiger shark predation risk influence bottlenose dolphin habitat use. Ecology 83, 480–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heithaus, M.R. & Dill, L.M. (2006). Does tiger shark predation risk influence foraging habitat use by bottlenose dolphins at multiple spatial scales?Oikos 114, 257–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heithaus, M.R., Wirsing, A.J., Burkholder, D., et al. (2009). Towards a predictive framework for predation risk effects: The interaction of landscape features and prey escape tactics. Journal of Animal Ecology 78, 556–562.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henry, E. & Hammill, M.O. (2001). Impact of small boats on the haulout activity of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) in Métis Bay, Saint Lawrence Estuary, Québec, Canada. Aquatic Mammals 27, 140–148.Google Scholar
Hoyt, E. (2001). Whale Watching 2000: Worldwide tourism numbers, expenditures, and expanding socioeconomic benefits. Yarmouth Port, MA: International Fund for Animal Welfare.Google Scholar
Hoyt, E. (2005). Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises: A world handbook for cetacean habitat conservation. London:Earthscan.Google Scholar
Hugie, D.M. & Dill, L.M. (1994). Fish and game – A game theoretic approach to habitat selection by predators and prey. Journal of Fish Biology 45(Suppl.A), 151–169.Google Scholar
Irvine, A.B., Wells, R.S. & Gilbert, P.W. (1973). Conditioning an Atlantic bottlenosed dolphin to repel various species of sharks. Journal of Mammalogy 54, 503–505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, F.H., Bejder, L., Wahlberg, M., et al. (2009). Vessel noise effects on delphinid communication. Marine Ecology Progress Series 395, 161–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, K.A. & Godin, J.G.J. (2010). Are fast explorers slow reactors? Linking personality type and anti-predator behaviour. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 277, 625–632.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kasuya, T. (1995). Overview of cetacean life histories: An essay in their evolution. In Blix, A.S., Walløe, L. & Ulltang, Ø. (Eds), Whales, Seals, Fish and Man. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, pp. 481–498.Google Scholar
Lima, S.L. (1998). Nonlethal effects in the ecology of predator–prey interactions. BioScience 48, 25–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lima, S.L. & Dill, L.M. (1990). Behavioral decisions made under the risk of predation: A review and prospectus. Canadian Journal of Zoology 68: 619–640.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lundquist, D., Sironi, M., Würsig, B., et al. (2012). Response of southern right whales to simulated swim-with-whale tourism at Península Valdés, Argentina. Marine Mammal Science 29, 24–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lusseau, D. (2003a). Effects of tour boats on the behavior of bottlenose dolphins: Using Markov chains to model anthropogenic impacts. Conservation Biology 17, 1785–1793.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lusseau, D. (2003b). Male and female bottlenose dolphins Tursiops spp. have different strategies to avoid interactions with tour boats in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand. Marine Ecology Progress Series 257, 267–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lusseau, D. (2005). Residency pattern of bottlenose dolphins Tursiops spp. in Milford Sound, New Zealand, is related to boat traffic. Marine Ecology Progress Series 295, 265–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lusseau, D., Maersk Lusseau, S., Bejder, L. & Williams, R. (2006a). An individual-based model to infer the impact of whalewatching on cetacean population dynamics. The Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission. Document: SC/58/WW7.
Lusseau, D., Slooten, E. & Currey, R.J.C. (2006b). Unsustainable dolphin-watching tourism in Fiordland, New Zealand. Tourism in Marine Environments 3, 173–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, J. & Smuts, B.B. (1998). Natal attraction: Allomaternal care and mother–infant separations in wild bottlenose dolphins. Animal Behaviour 55, 1097–1113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
NRC. (2005). Marine Mammal Populations and Ocean Noise: Determining when noise causes biologically significant effects. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Norris, K.S. & Dohl, T.P. (1980). The structure and function of cetacean schools. In Herman, L.M. (Ed.), Cetacean Behavior: Mechanisms and functions. New York, NY:Wiley, pp. 211–261.Google Scholar
Nowacek, S.M., Wells, R.S. & Solow, A.R. (2001). Short-term effects of boat traffic on bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, in Sarasota Bay, Florida. Marine Mammal Science 17, 673–688.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Connor, S., Campbell, R., Cortez, H. & Knowles, T. (2009). Whale Watching Worldwide: Tourism numbers, expenditures and expanding economic benefits. Yarmouth Port, MA:International Fund for Animal Welfare.Google Scholar
Preisser, E.L., Bolnick, D.I. & Benard, M.F. (2005). Scared to death? The effects of intimidation and consumption in predator–prey interactions. Ecology 86, 501–509.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Réale, D., Reader, S.M., Sol, D., et al. (2007). Integrating animal temperament within ecology and evolution. Biological Reviews 82, 291–318.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Réale, D., Dingemanse, N.J., Kazem, A.J.N. & Wright, J. (2010). Evolutionary and ecological approaches to the study of personality. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 365, 3937–3946.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sinclair, A.R.E. & Arcese, P. (1995). Population consequences of predation-sensitive foraging: The Serengeti wildebeest. Ecology 76, 882–891.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stamation, K.A., Croft, D.B., Shaughnessy, P.D., et al. (2010). Behavioral responses of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) to whale-watching vessels on the southeastern coast of Australia. Marine Mammal Science 26, 98–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stearns, S.C. (1992). The Evolution of Life Histories. Oxford:Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Stensland, E. & Berggren, P. (2007). Behavioural changes in female Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in response to boat-based tourism. Marine Ecology Progress Series 332, 225–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stensland, E., Angerbjörn, A. & Berggren, P. (2003). Mixed species groups in mammals. Mammal Review 33(3), 205–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephens, P.A., Boyd, I.L., McNamara, J.M. & Houston, A.I. (2009). Capital breeding and income breeding: Their meaning, measurement, and worth. Ecology 90, 2057–2067.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tremblay, P. (2001). Wildlife tourism consumption: Consumptive or non-consumptive? International Journal of Tourism Research 3, 81–86.3.0.CO;2-X>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Parijs, S.M. & Corkeron, P.J. (2001). Boat traffic affects the acoustic behaviour of Pacific humpback dolphins, Sousa chinensis. Journal of the Marine Association U.K. 81, 533–538.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Visser, I.N. (1999). A summary of interactions between orca (Orcinus orca) and other cetaceans in New Zealand waters. New Zealand Natural Sciences 24, 101–112.Google Scholar
Waples, K.A. & Gales, N. (2002). Evaluating and minimising social stress in the care of captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus). Zoo Biology 2, 15–26.Google Scholar
Weinrich, M. & Corbelli, C. (2009). Does whale watching in Southern New England impact humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) calf production or calf survival? Biological Conservation 142, 2931–2940.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R. & Ashe, E. (2007). Killer whale evasive tactics vary with boat number. Journal of Zoology 272, 390–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R. & Noren, D.P. (2009). Swimming speed, respiration rate, and estimated cost of transport in adult killer whales. Marine Mammal Science 25(2), 327–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R., Bain, D.E., Ford, J.K.B. & Trites, A.W. (2002a). Behavioral responses of male killer whales to a ‘leapfrogging’ vessel. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 4, 305–310.Google Scholar
Williams, R., Trites, A.W. & Bain, D.E. (2002b). Behavioural responses of killer whales (Orcinus orca) to whale-watching boats: Opportunistic observations and experimental approaches. Journal of Zoology (London) 256, 255–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R., Lusseau, D. & Hammond, P.S. (2006). Estimating relative energetic costs of human disturbance to killer whales (Orcinus orca). Biological Conservation 113, 301–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R., Lusseau, D. & Hammond, P.S. (2009). The role of social aggregations and protected areas in killer whale conservation: The mixed blessing of critical habitat. Biological Conservation 142, 709–719.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R., Ashe, E., Sandilands, D. & Lusseau, D. (2011). Stimulus-dependent response to disturbance affecting the activity of killer whales. The Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission. Document: SC/63/WW5.
Wirsing, A.J., Heithaus, M.R., Frid, A. & Dill, L.M. (2007). Seascapes of fear: Evaluating sublethal predator effects experienced and generated by marine mammals. Marine Mammal Science 24, 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zollner, P.A. & Lima, S.L. (1997). Landscape level perceptual abilities in white-footed mice: Perceptual range and the detection of forested habitat. Oikos 80, 51–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×