Managing whale-watching as a non-lethal consumptive activity

Marine tourism is a new frontier of late-capitalist transformation, generating more global revenue than aquaculture and fisheries combined. This transformation created whale-watching, a commercial tourism form that, despite recent critiques, has been accepted as non-consumptive activity. This paper uses four academic discourses to critique whale-watching as a form of capitalist exploitation: (1) commercial whale-watching and global capitalist transformation, (2) global capitalist politics and the promoted belief that whale-watching is non-consumptive, (3) the inherent contradictions of non-consumptive capitalist exploitation, and (4) whale-watching as a common-pool resource. These discourses lead us to critique whale-watching practices in relation to the common capitalist sequence of resource diversification, exploitation, depletion and collapse. Using specific impact studies, we conclude that a sustainability paradigm shift is required, whereby whale-watching (and other forms of wildlife tourism) is recognized as a form of non-lethal consumptive exploitation, understood in terms of sub-lethal anthropogenic stress and energetic impacts. We argue the need for a paradigm shift in the regulation and management of commercial whale-watching, and present the case for a unified, international framework for managing the negative externalities of whale-watching. The relevance of the issues raised about neoliberal policy-making extends beyond whale-watching to all forms of wildlife and nature-based tourism

Provisioning by tourists affects the behaviour but not the body condition of Mareeba rock-wallabies (Petrogale mareeba)

Feeding free-ranging native animals is a form of wildlife-based tourism that is particularly popular in Australia as a result of the cryptic nature of many native species. The colony of Mareeba rock-wallabies (Petrogale mareeba) at 'Granite Gorge', North Queensland, where tourists feed a spatially defined subset of animals daily, was studied to determine the effects of provisioning on their behaviour and body condition. Provisioned P. mareeba had higher activity levels, including higher aggression levels, and spent more time performing contact behaviours (including mutual and non-mutual allogrooming) than did non-provisioned animals. Possible explanations for increased aggression include competition over provisioned food and territorial defence. Increased contact behaviours may serve to reduce tension caused by provisioning. The diurnal activities of the provisioned rock-wallabies were dictated by the activities of tourists. Provisioned rock-wallabies emerged from their shelters to receive food much earlier each afternoon than did the unprovisioned animals. The level of autogrooming exhibited by the provisioned wallabies was much higher than that of the unprovisioned animals, presumably as a thermoregulatory response to the high afternoon temperatures. Although provisioned P. mareeba feed more, their higher activity levels explain the lack of difference in the body condition between the two groups

Using calls to estimate the abundance of inshore dolphins: A case study with Pacific humpback dolphins Sousa chinensis

1. Assessing the number of animals in a population is a fundamental requirement for effective wildlife management. Determining this information for cetaceans can be logistically difficult, and the abundance of inshore cetaceans along most of the world's coastline is unknown. 2. In this study we illustrate the potential of using sound as a tool for estimating the abundance of inshore cetaceans, using Pacific humpback dolphins Sousa chinensis. 3. Acoustic recordings of humpback dolphins were made in conjunction with visual observations of school size from a land-based platform on Stradbroke Island, Australia. 4. The mean number of calls recorded per 3-min sample period was regressed against the number of dolphins observed using schools for which more than three sample periods were recorded. The relationship estimated number of dolphins = 2·39 × the mean number of calls per 3-min sample was used to estimate the number of dolphins in schools for which fewer than four samples were recorded. Comparing these results against known group sizes indicated that this estimation technique is acceptable. 5. Recordings could be made using remotely deployed hydrophone units or submerged autonomous units to provide information on the occurrence and group size of inshore delphinids within an area. 6. Inexperienced personnel could deploy and retrieve recording units. Analysis would require training to recognize sound types from different species, or computer-based sound recognition programs. 7. We conclude that simple techniques using phonations can provide estimates of relative abundance for one species of inshore cetacean. The technique is acceptable for groups of fewer than nine individuals and should be developed to assess its usefulness for studying other species

Sounds produced by Australian Irrawaddy dolphins

Sounds produced by Irrawaddy dolphins, Orcaella brevirostris, were recorded in coastal waters off northern Australia. They exhibit a varied repertoire, consisting of broadband clicks, pulsed sounds and whistles. Broad-band clicks, "creaks" and "buzz" sounds were recorded during foraging, while "squeaks" were recorded only during socializing. Both whistle types were recorded during foraging and socializing. The sounds produced by Irrawaddy dolphins do not resemble those of their nearest taxonomic relative, the killer whale, Orcinus orca. Pulsed sounds appear to resemble those produced by Sotalia and nonwhistling delphinids (e.g., Cephalorhynchus spp.). Irrawaddy dolphins exhibit a vocal repertoire that could reflect the acoustic specialization of this species to its environment. ©2000 Acoustical Society of America

Genetic evidence for sex-specific migratory behaviour in the western south Pacific humpback whales

Although predictable in its areas of occurrence, the humpback whale migration remains for many aspects still poorly understood. Nuclear DNA analysis has revealed a low level of relatedness among whales using the same migratory corridor, and that closely related individuals do not tend to travel in spatial association. Yet it still remains uncertain whether whales from different matrilineally discrete feeding stocks travel along the same migratory corridor for then mixing in common breeding waters. The western and central South Pacific Ocean is the only ocean basin where thousands of islands and reefs occur as suitable wintering habitat for humpback whales, so their migratory behaviour may not be constrained by habitat. Here we analysed the sex-specific and temporal distributions of 42 mitochondrial haplotypes detected in 135 humpback whales sampled off Eastern Australia throughout one annual migration. A noticeable difference was found in haplotypic composition between northbound males and females, suggesting that the two sexes of any single matrilineal stock might select differential, only partially overlapping, migratory routes. We hypothesize that males most closely related to the females that migrate north-south off eastern Australia appear to migrate north elsewhere, perhaps past New Zealand. The scant behavioural data available from New Zealand support this hypothesis

Survival of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops sp.) calves at a wild dolphin provisioning program, Tangalooma, Australia.

Mortality of calves born to provisioned mothers is identified in the literature as an issue of concern in dolphin provisioning programs. Wild dolphin provisioning at Tangalooma, Moreton Island, Australia has been occurring since 1992. Each evening, up to eight dolphins are provided with fish in a regulated provisioning program. In this paper, calf survival at the Tangalooma provisioning program is reported and contrasted with that from wild populations and from a similar provisioning program at Monkey Mia, Western Australia. At Tangalooma, the calf survival rate is 100%, including both orphaned and first-born calves, both of which are expected to have relatively low survival rates. Possible explanations for the high calf survival rate are explored. These include site attributes such as isolated location and high water quality, aspects of foraging ecology likely to benefit calves of provisioned mothers, and the management regime used in the provisioning program (e.g., duration and timing of provisioning; quality of provisioned fish)