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Whale Watching: Travel industry takes species protection seriously

Zurich (ots)

Whale watching is a growing trend. Millions of
people put to sea in order to observe free-swimming whales and
dolphins, with their numbers increasing each year. Although there is
not yet a quality label for whale watching, a uniform evaluation of
selected tour operators is now available thanks to a pilot project
initiated by OceanCare, together with Kontiki Saga, Glur Reisen and
Scandinavian Airlines.
Practically all countries bordering on the ocean offer whale
watching trips. Ever increasing large numbers of travellers eagerly
grab the opportunity to observe marine mammals in their natural
habitat. Iceland and Norway are preferred European observation
locations, in addition to the normal southern destinations. Iceland
is considered to be the real whale watching center, where the
industry has seen rapid growth beyond the European average over the
past years.
Still, this touristic onrush to the ocean can become detrimental
to living whales and dolphins if it is not steered responsibly. Many
operators that offer whale watching excursions often lack the optimal
knowledge required for organizing responsible tours. For this reason,
OceanCare, the Swiss organization for the protection of marine
mammals, sought cooperation with Kontiki Saga, Glur Reisen and
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS).
This cooperation project is aimed at evaluating various whale
watching tour operators in Iceland and Norway based on uniform
criteria. "Together with the operators offering these trips, our goal
is to improve whale watching for the benefit of these docile giants
of the sea," explains Nele Davignon from SAS: "At the same time,
travellers from participating agencies should be able to profit from
sustainable tour offers."
The first such evaluation process of four tour operators offering
whale watching excursions has now been completed. Six evaluation
categories were examined:  maintenance of the observation platform,
customer friendliness, behavior towards animals at sea, environmental
learning opportunities, research activities and environmental
behavior. "Three of the operators carry out very informative and
exciting observation tours that turn into unforgettable experiences,"
states Silvia Frey, from OceanCare's Whale Research section. "Some of
them also help to extend people's knowledge about these animals."
All ships were in perfect condition and contributed to a
comfortable trip. However, none of the operators adhered fully to the
local Whale Watching Guidelines, referring to people's behavior near
whales and dolphins. "This is an important aspect, for they should be
disturbed as little as possible," the whale researcher warns: "but
all of them went closer than the prescribed distance to the animals,
stayed with them longer than prescribed and even downright pursued
them." Collaboration is now being sought with the operators to
improve this situation.
Both Ivan Köhle from Kontiki Saga and Heidi Glur from Glur Reisen
commented:  "As travel agencies involved in this project, we agree to
always supply our guests with a copy of the Whale Watching Guidelines
with their travel documents. In this way they can orient themselves
beforehand on what is considered acceptable behavior during such
excursions." In addition, OceanCare offers an online platform where
travellers can report their positive and critical impressions of
tours. This will allow improvements which benefit both humans and
animals. Plans exist to continually expand the joint project.

Contact:

Glur Reisen:
Heidi Glur
Tel.: +41/61/205'94'94
E-Mail: glur@glur.ch
Internet: www.glur.ch

Kontiki Saga:
Ivan Köhle
Tel.: +41/56/203'66'56
E-Mail: ivan.koehle@kontiki.ch
Internet: www.kontiki.ch

OceanCare:
Silvia Frey
Tel.: +41/79/742'93'23
E-Mail: sfrey@oceancare.org
Internet: www.oceancare.org

SAS:
Nele Davignon
Tel.: +41/43/210'26'96
E-Mail: nele.davignon@sas.dk
Internet: www.flysas.ch

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