Management Of Marine Mammal Tours On The Great Barrier Reef

Abstract

Of the more than 30 species of marine mammal occurring within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP), three are the focus of wildlife-based tours: humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), dwarf minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) and dugongs (Dugong dugon). Currently (April 2001), 19 permits, comprising 31 ships and two aircraft, allow whalewatching in the GBRMP. The combined passenger capacity of these craft is 3,238 at any one time (e.g., per day). However, fewer than 15,000 persons were recorded in ‘dedicated’ whalewatching tours each month during the May - October ‘whale-watching’ season between 1998 and 2000. Watching M. novaeangliae occurs primarily in the Central and Cairns Sections of the GBRMP, with most activity focused in the Whitsundays. Permitted levels of whale-watching are capped at eight permits in the Cairns Area, and at 11 permits in the Whitsundays. Other tours include: a specialised form of whale-watching involving swimming with B. acutorostrata which is being brought within a limited-entry management regime; one dolphin-watching tour in the Central Section of the GBRMP north of the Whitsundays; and one dugong-watching tour in the Hinchinbrook Region. Because of reported declines in the number of D. dugon on the Great Barrier Reef, this activity is being monitored closely before further permits are granted. Marine mammal watching activities in the GBRMP are managed through a combination of best practices guidelines, codes of conduct, regulations, zoning, wildlife protection areas and permits. The potential for the commercial whale-watching industry to become self-regulating is acknowledged.