Sue Muloin

Conservation benefits of interpretation on marine wildlife tours

Marine wildlife tours provide a range of education and conservation benefits for visitors. These benefits derive from interpretation programs and close personal encounters with marine wildlife. Interpretive information covers the biology, ecology and behaviors of marine species, best practice guidelines, and human threats to marine life. There has been limited assessment of interpretation on marine wildlife tours to identify whether these increase tourist knowledge and promote changes in environmental attitudes. This article reviews the educational benefits of guided marine wildlife experiences with dolphins, whales, and marine turtles using Orams (1999) framework of outcome indicators to manage marine tourism. The key indicators assessed in this article are education/learning and attitude/belief changes in visitors that benefit marine wildlife. This analysis found tourist learning during mediated encounters with marine wildlife contributes to pro-environmental attitudes and on-site behavior changes, with some longer-term intentions to support and engage in marine conservation actions. Areas of research are suggested to examine the causal links between wildlife interpretation and pro-environmental outcomes.

Marine wildlife tours: benefits for participants

This chapter introduces marine wildlife tours and visitor benefits from marine wildlife encounters, then critically reviews the psychological, educational and conservation benefits of tourist participation in a range of marine wildlife experiences.

Aboriginal Interpretation in Australian Wildlife Tourism

This paper evaluates Aboriginal cultural interpretation at wildlife attractions and on wildlife tours in Australia. The sites included 14 wildlife parks or zoos; three Aboriginal-owned emu or crocodile farms; and 16 wildlife tours, river cruises or resorts with Indigenous interpretation of wildlife. Telephone interviews were conducted with 35 managers (nine Indigenous) and 26 Indigenous staff at wildlife attractions that included verbal or written Aboriginal wildlife interpretation. The Indigenous guides verbally presented both traditional uses and personal stories about Australian wildlife followed by Aboriginal ‘Dreaming’ or creation stories about totemic animal species. Non-Indigenous staff explained traditional Aboriginal uses of wildlife followed by biological facts and species information. The responses in this study thus highlight cultural differences in animal attitudes and approaches to wildlife use or interpretation. According to staff, tourists benefit from the inclusion of Aboriginal interpretation at wildlife sites by broadening their mind, dispelling myths, learning/education about Aboriginal cultures, novelty and excitement for visitors, increasing cultural awareness and developing more positive attitudes towards Indigenous people. Some guidelines for wildlife attractions and tours to develop and present Aboriginal cultural interpretation of Australian wildlife are also identified.

Whale-watching: Green messengers or nature's spectacle

Introduction In western countries, whales and dolphins are iconic wildlife species and have been a key focus of marine conservation efforts since the 1970s. Social values based on conservation influence the type of benefits now sought from marine wildlife interactions, such as the trend towards non-consumptive viewing of wild cetaceans rather than killing whales or dolphins (Frohoff & Packard, 1995; Muloin, 1998; Bulbeck, 1999; Kellert, 1999; Hoyt, 2003; Parsons et al ., 2003; Higham & Lusseau, 2004; Corkeron, 2006; Neves, 2010; Brakes & Simmons, 2011), or seeing wild instead of captive dolphins (Hughes, 2001; Bulbeck, 2005). These new environmental and amenity values of cetaceans as ‘charismatic mega-fauna’ have underpinned the rapid worldwide growth in whale- and dolphin-watching as a marine tourism activity (Hoyt, 2001; Orams, 2005; Cisneros-Montemayor et al ., 2010). In 2008, over 13 million people went on whale-watching tours in 119 countries, generating income of US

Conservation and education benefits of interpretation on marine wildlife tours.

2 billion in coastal economies (IFAW, 2009). The economic and conservation benefits of cetacean tours are supported by organizations such as the Pacific Whale Foundation, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, and Whales Alive. Whale-watching is defined as ‘the watching of any cetacean in the wild, an activity which is almost invariably conducted from a platform (e.g. ship, cliff or aeroplane)’ (Warburton, 1999: 12) and as ‘any commercial enterprise which provides for the public to see cetaceans in their natural habitat’ (Warburton et al ., 2001: 5). Swimming with humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) in Tonga (Orams, 2001; Kessler & Harcourt, 2010), dwarf minke whales ( Balaenoptera acutorostrata subspecies) in Australia (Birtles et al ., 2002; Valentine et al ., 2004), and wild dolphins (Amante-Helweg, 1996; Orams, 1997a; Hughes, 2001; Luck, 2003; Samuels et al ., 2003; Blewitt, 2008; Zeppel, 2009; Draheim et al ., 2010) are popular activities in selected locations where this is legally permitted. As a result, there is a growing body of research about visitor experiences of wild cetaceans.