A survey of public opinion in south‐west Scotland on cetacean conservation issues

Abstract

Abstract In summer 2001, 252 members of the public in south‐west Scotland were interviewed to determine their awareness of, and opinions on, cetacean conservation issues in Scotland. Interviews were conducted in both rural island and coastal communities and a major city. Interviewees were also presented with a list of threats to cetaceans and were asked to gauge how serious they considered these threats to be for cetaceans in the waters of western Scotland. Oil spills (43.7%), reduction in available prey (41.8%), marine litter (32%) and sewage bacteria (31.1%) were ranked by most members of the public as being ‘serious threats’. Least concern was expressed in relation to whale watching: only 0.8% of respondents considered whale watching to be a serious threat and 51.2% thought that it posed no threat at all. In relation to the other threats considered, there was a moderate level of concern about fishery by‐catches and pollution from aquaculture and land‐based sources. Levels of concern about disturbance caused by quarrying, dredging and military activities were generally low, despite these factors having been raised by some as being conservation issues in west Scotland. The majority of participants (69.4%) were aware of whaling operations currently being conducted by Japan and Norway. Almost all participants were against these countries hunting whales (96.4%). Interviewees were also asked for their opinion regarding the level of protection currently afforded to cetaceans by the Scottish Government. Virtually no interviewee considered cetaceans to be overprotected in Scotland (0.4%). A substantial proportion were of the opinion that they are not sufficiently protected (45.6%). Of these, virtually all (94.8%) thought that legislation specifically for the protection of cetaceans in Scotland should be introduced. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.