Participant crowding and physical contact rates of whale shark tours on Isla Holbox, Mexico

Abstract

Whale shark tourism is a growing niche market within the marine wildlife tourism sector. Increased visitation and declining whale shark numbers at some tourism sites worldwide raise questions over the long-term sustainability of this industry. This study examines the social and potential biological impacts of “swim-with” whale shark tourism on Isla Holbox, Mexico. A total of 397 tour participants completed a self-administered questionnaire regarding perceived crowding, reported encounters and encounter norms, as well as self-reported physical contact rates with whale sharks. Relatively high physical contact rates suggest that tourism may cause some harm to sharks. Users who encountered more swimmers than their norm felt significantly more crowded and were more likely to perceive the industry as having a negative impact on the sharks and surrounding environment. However, the results suggest that the number of boats in the whale shark viewing area may have a greater influence on crowding than number of swimmers. Management interventions to improve the sustainability of the industry include improved interpretation and guide intervention, achieving higher compliance with existing guidelines, and limiting the number of boats allowed in the whale shark viewing area.

墨西哥霍尔布什岛鲸鲨旅游的参与者拥挤和身体接触度鲸鲨旅游业是海洋野生动物旅游部门内不断增长的利基市场。全球范围内一些旅游景点访问的增加和鲸鲨数量的下降引发了这个行业长期可持续发展的一些问题。这项研究考察了墨西哥霍尔布什岛与鲸鲨游泳的旅游业的社会影响和潜在生物影响。共有397位游客完成了关于拥挤感知、遭遇报告和遭遇规范以及自我报告的与鲸鲨的身体接触率的自填问卷。相对较高的身体接触率表明，旅游业可能会对霍尔布什岛的鲨鱼造成一定的伤害。遇到比常规多的游泳者的用户会显著觉得更拥挤，更容易感知行业具会对鲨鱼和周围的环境产生不利影响。然而，结果表明，鲸鲨观赏区船只数量在拥挤方面可能会比游泳人数有更大的影响。用于提高行业可持续性的管理措施包括说明改进和指导干预，更好地实现遵守现有的指导方针，并限制在鲸鲨观赏区的允许船只数量。

Keywords:

• marine wildlife tourism
• whale sharks
• perceived crowding
• encounter norms
• tourism impacts
• Isla Holbox (Mexico)

关键词:

• 海洋野生动物旅游
• 感知拥挤
• 环境影响
• 可持续旅游业
• 管理
• 鲸鲨

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank E. Pacheco, C. Reilly, J. Catlin, and the whale shark tour operators for their help in completing this project. The authors would also like to thank Dr. J. Higham and Dr. J. N. King for their insightful edits, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their guidance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jackie A. Ziegler

Jackie Ziegler is a PhD student in the Marine Protected Areas Research Group at the University of Victoria, Canada. Her specific research interests integrate social and biological sciences to answer applied problems in conservation, with a focus on the marine environment.

Philip Dearden

Philip Dearden is professor of geography at the University of Victoria where he leads the Marine Protected Areas Research Group. His main research interests are in the intersection between tourism and biodiversity conservation, particularly in the marine environment.

Rick Rollins

Rick Rollins is a professor emeritus in the Department of Recreation and Tourism at Vancouver Island University, Canada. His research focuses on nature based tourism and recreation.