Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-5jtmz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-04T04:31:58.432Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - The International Whaling Commission (IWC) and whale-watching

from Part I - The historical and contemporary contexts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2014

By
Carole Carlson ,
Naomi Rose ,
Hidehiro Kato  and
Rob Williams
Edited by
James Higham ,
Lars Bejder  and
Rob Williams
Carole Carlson
Affiliation:
Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies; Dolphin Fleet of Provincetown, Provincetown, MA, USA
Naomi Rose
Affiliation:
Humane Society International
Hidehiro Kato
Affiliation:
Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMSAT)
Rob Williams
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews, Scotland
James Higham
Affiliation:
University of Otago, New Zealand
Lars Bejder
Affiliation:
Murdoch University, Western Australia
Rob Williams
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews, Scotland
Get access

Summary

Introduction

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is the global body charged with ensuring the conservation and management of whales. It performs a central role in the discussion of all aspects of whaling and, since 1975, whale-watching. In terms of whale-watching, the brief of the IWC extends to the scientific, legal, socioeconomic and educational aspects of the activity. A critical function of the IWC for more than three and a half decades has been to collate, analyse and disseminate leading edge research and information on whale-watching to member (and non-member) governments. It also provides a forum for the discussion and dissemination of scientific studies addressing all aspects of whale-watching in a timely manner. As such, the IWC contributes at the global level to the pursuit of sustainable whale-watching, while addressing the educational, socio-cultural and economic development opportunities that are widely associated with it.

This chapter provides a brief review of the activities and outcomes achieved by the IWC in the 37 years since whale-watching became incorporated into the IWC agenda. Central to this historical review is the critical role that the IWC has played in the transition from extractive to non-extractive practices. It also seeks to underline the role of the IWC in facilitating the development of sustainable whale-watching; a future in which education, research, conservation, and management are seamlessly engaged and mutually informing. This goal arises from the philosophy that commercial whale-watching and rigorous science can take place simultaneously, particularly with whale-watching vessels used as ‘platforms of opportunity’ to collect data. In addition, commercial whale-watching passengers can be actively engaged in the research and conservation efforts of the scientific community and management agencies, such that all stakeholders play an active part in learning about whale conservation and informing sustainable tourism management. Lastly, the chapter explores the case of Antarctic whale-watching, illustrating the interplay of commercial whale-watching, science and conservation.

Information

Type
Chapter
Information
Whale-watching
Sustainable Tourism and Ecological Management
 , pp. 71 - 78
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Allen, J., Carlson, C. & Stevick, P. (2006). Interim Report: IWC Research Contract 16, Antarctic Humpback Whale Catalogue SC/58/SH19. Retrieved from .
Antarctic Humpback Whale Catalogue. (2006). Retrieved from (21 May 2006).
Antarctic Killer Whale Identification Catalogue. (2006). Retrieved from (21 May 2006).
Dalla Rosa, L., Félix, F., Stevick, P.T. et al. (2012). Feeding grounds of the eastern South Pacific humpback whale population include the South Orkney Islands. Polar Research 31, 17331–17324, DOI: 17310.13402/polar.v17331i17320.17324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pitman, R.L. & Ensor, P. (2003). Three different forms of killer whales in Antarctic waters. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 5(2), 131–139.Google Scholar
Rasmussen, K., Palacios, D.M. & Calambokidis, J., et al. (2007). Southern Hemisphere humpback whales wintering off Central America: Insights from water temperature into the longest mammalian migration. Biology Letters 3, 302–305. .CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stevick, P.T., Aguayo, A., Allen, J., et al. (2004). Migrations of individually identified humpback whales between the Antarctic Peninsula and South America. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 6, 109–113.Google Scholar
Stevick, P.T., Pacheco de Godoy, L., McOsker, M., Engel, M.H. & Allen, J. (2006). A note on the movement of a humpback whale from Abrolhos Bank, Brazil to South Georgia. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 8, 297–300.Google Scholar
Stevick, P.T., Neves, M.C., Johansen, F., et al. (2010). A quarter of a world away: female humpback whale moves 10 000 km between breeding areas. Biology Letters 7, 299–302.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stevick, P.T., Allen, J.M., Engel, M.H., Félix, F., Haas, B. & Neves, M.C. (in press). Inter-oceanic movement of an adult female humpback whale between Pacific and Atlantic breeding grounds off South America. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management.
Williams, R. & Crosbie, K. (2007). Antarctic whales and antarctic tourism. Tourism in Marine Environments 4(2), 195–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R., Hedley, S.L. & Hammond, P.S. (2006). Modelling distribution and abundance of Antarctic baleen whales using ships of opportunity. Ecology and Society 11(1). CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×