NZTRI researchers participated in symposium on Watching Whales, Saving Whales in Hawaii.
Dr Mark Orams and Dr Michael Lück were invited to be keynote speakers and moderators at the first annual Watching Whales, Saving Whales Symposium in Maui, Hawaii, which on February 13th and 14th 2010, brought together some of the world's leading whale experts, researchers and authors to discuss how to protect and save whales through the power of public awareness and scientific discovery. The symposium was hosted by Pacific Whale Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting whales, dolphins and the ocean environment, through marine research, public education and conservation.
Dr Mark Oram’s presentation title was: ‘Maximizing the conservation benefits of commercial whale-watching activities. How do we do it?’
Abstract. The marine mammal tourism industry has generally been considered to be a force for positive environmental outcomes. However, there is little empirical research to back up this assertion and there are increasing numbers of research papers which show that marine mammal tourism can have negative impacts on targeted populations. So how do we maximize the opportunity that whale-watching experiences provide to produce positive environmental outcomes? This presentation focused on what we know about inducing human behavior change and how we can incorporate such strategies into our whale-watching activities.
[Photo source: Michael Lück, 2010.]
