Journal article 69 views 16 downloads
Swimming with humans: biotelemetry reveals effects of “gold standard” regulated tourism on whale sharks
,
Mark Holton ,
Craig E. Franklin,
Ross G. Dwyer
Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Pages: 1 - 20
Swansea University Authors:
James Redcliffe, Rory Wilson , Mark Holton
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© 2024 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/09669582.2024.2314624
Abstract
Wildlife tourism can benefit conservation of target species, however, it can have detrimental effects on animal behaviour and physiology. Whale shark Rhincodon typus tourism has seen recent rapid growth globally, but methods and regulations vary widely. Ningaloo Reef, Australia is considered “gold s...
| Published in: | Journal of Sustainable Tourism |
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| ISSN: | 0966-9582 1747-7646 |
| Published: |
Informa UK Limited
2024
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65580 |
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| Abstract: |
Wildlife tourism can benefit conservation of target species, however, it can have detrimental effects on animal behaviour and physiology. Whale shark Rhincodon typus tourism has seen recent rapid growth globally, but methods and regulations vary widely. Ningaloo Reef, Australia is considered “gold standard” whale shark tourism management due to legal regulation, strict enforcement, and high compliance. Rather than relying on observational data, we used biotelemetry to collect high-resolution data (20 Hz) on whale sharks’ movement behaviour in the presence or absence of tourists. Tourism encounters lasted an average of 62 min and swimming with tourists increased the activity levels of larger (> 7 m) but not smaller sharks. Given that activity levels positively correlate with energetic costs, it is likely the 18% increase seen in activity of large sharks would have incurred additional energetic costs. However, when considered as a proportion of daily energy requirements, these additional costs were only incurred for an average of 4% of a whale shark’s day. The tourism-induced impacts we found on the endangered whale sharks at this highly regulated tourism site would not have been apparent from purely observational studies, highlighting the utility of biotelemetry to quantify tourism-related impacts on wildlife. |
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| Keywords: |
accelerometry; biotelemetry; tourism impacts; sustainable tourism; wildlife tourism |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Funders: |
SDR was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship and a stipend top-up scholarship from Thyne Reid Foundation. Financial support for the research was provided by the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment awarded to SDR from the Ecological Society of Australia and grants to BMN from the Estate of the late Winifred Violet Scott and The Rolex Awards for Enterprise. |
| Start Page: |
1 |
| End Page: |
20 |