Abstract
Whale-watching (WW) is an activity which has been increasing worldwide due to the great interest of tourists and the economic benefits it provides to local communities. However, it has been reported that this activity affects the behavioral patterns of some cetaceans, although for some species such as the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) this has not been extensively studied. To identify the effects of WW on the behavioral patterns of this species, we studied its traveling and resting behaviors in a locality of north-central Chile from 2015 to 2018. Using a theodolite, we calculated the response variables of swim speed, directness index, and reorientation for each behavior. We used the number of WW boats and the WW scenarios of “before”, “during”, and “after” the presence of boats as possible factors to explain the differences in the response variables of the whales, along with the factors of year, month, group size, and distance from the observation point. Reorientation increased significantly and the directness index decreased significantly for both traveling and resting behaviors from “before” to “during” WW scenarios, indicating more erratic and sinuous movements in the presence of boats. These changes in movement patterns are a commonly reported evasion response of cetaceans to the presence of WW boats. For traveling behavior, the swimming speed significantly increased, and trends showed increased reorientation and a decrease in the directness index in the “after” WW scenario, which suggests perturbation of the whales potentially associated with the speed and the direction in which the boats left. During resting behavior, the trajectories of the fin whales became straighter (decrease in reorientation) as the number of boats increased, thus evasion (more erratic and sinuous movements) is a behavior used less by fin whales as the number of boats increases. Notwithstanding the fact that tourism development in the study area is small in scale, we found that WW generates adverse effects that are reflected in changes in the whales’ movement patterns. This kind of information is valuable to the adjustment and/or design of management strategies for the species, which is fundamental for WW to continue to be a sustainable activity.
Highlights
Whale-watching (WW) is one of the fastest-growing tourism industries in a number of countries in recent decades, providing both economic and socioenvironmental benefits
A high diversity of marine fauna has been reported in the area, including birds and marine mammals (Capella et al, 1999; Luna-Jorquera et al, 2003; Pérez et al, 2006; Sepúlveda et al, 2009, 2016), and it has been described as an important feeding area for the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) during the austral spring and summer (Pérez et al, 2006; Toro et al, 2016; Sepúlveda et al, 2018)
Since the observed whales were no longer resting after WW, it was not possible to record data for this behavior in this instance
Summary
Whale-watching (WW) is one of the fastest-growing tourism industries in a number of countries in recent decades, providing both economic and socioenvironmental benefits. Local communities of artisanal fishers who participate in this economic activity benefit by diversifying from their traditional fishing activities, which allows them to increase their sources of income as fishing resources decrease (Parsons et al, 2003; Garrod and Wilson, 2004; Hoyt and Iñíguez, 2008; Guidino et al, 2020) One consequence of this is greater environmental consciousness, which stimulates interest in the conservation and protection of the marine fauna and their habitat (Higginbottom and Tribe, 2004; Zeppel and Muloin, 2008; Schuler and Pearson, 2019), both on the part of consumers (general public) and those who provide the services (e.g., fishers, researchers, businessmen) (Filby et al, 2015; Schuler and Pearson, 2019). Another energetically expensive tactic used by cetaceans is vertical evasion, in which cetaceans increase their diving time (Stamation et al, 2010; Schaffar et al, 2013) and/or increase the rate of respiration (Christiansen et al, 2014; Schuler et al, 2019)
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