https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6061-0172
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Abstract
Disturbance due to tourism may impact the critically endangered population of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in Iceland. Improved seal watching management is a promising strategy for seal conservation in Iceland. Previous research indicates that value orientation of tourists can predict acceptance of wildlife management and awareness of potential impacts of tourism on seals. The goal of this study was to (a) define biospheric and egoistic value orientation of seal watching visitors, (b) investigate how these values correlate with the opinion of visitors towards different management actions and awareness of potential impact of tourism on seals, and (c) investigate which management actions would be acceptable for visitors. Visitor questionnaires were distributed in NW Iceland (n = 597). Results show that seal watching visitors in general had high biospheric values, low egoistic values, and were open to most management actions suggested in the study. High biospheric values were correlated with acceptance of management actions and awareness of the usefulness of regulations. High egoistic values were correlated with low acceptance of management actions and low awareness of the impacts of seal watching. Results will inform managers on how to optimize management strategies at seal watching sites in Iceland and elsewhere.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the landowners of Húnaþing vestra for allowing us to conduct research on their property. Acknowledgements to Eric dos Santos for valuable discussions and proof-reading, Daniel Govoni and Luís Augusto F. B. de Aquino for their help with statistics, and Camille Valente who translated the questionnaire into French.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Cécile Marie Chauvat
Cécile Chauvat is a naturalist at the Natural History Institute of Northwestern Iceland, and the Coordinator of Environmental Education at the Natural History department of the Icelandic Seal Center. She received her Master’s degree in Coastal and Marine Management from the University Center of the Westfjords, where she did wrote thesis on seal watching management. Her main research interest is interdisciplinary, combining social sciences and ecology to study environmental education. Cécile Chauvat is interested in educating visitors of wildlife watching activities about tourism impacts, as well as in creating curriculum teaching youth about learning in local nature.
Jessica Aquino
Dr. Jessica Aquino is an Assistant Professor at Hólar University in the Department of Rural Tourism and is Head of Tourism Research at the Icelandic Seal Center. Her research interests are in community and quality of life; sustainable tourism and responsible tourism practices; volunteer tourism; and the potential contribution that tourism has on community development and responsible management of natural areas. Dr. Aquino is the founding director of a non-profit youth nature club called Húnaklúbburinn. The aim of the club is to enable community engagement, develop an awareness in environmental stewardship, and assist youth in taking a more active role in shaping their future, and the future of their community.
Sandra Magdalena Granquist
Dr. Sandra Magdalena Granquist is a marine mammal specialist at the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute in Iceland and Head of Seal Research at the Icelandic Seal Center. Her main research interests are in marine mammal behaviour ecology, and monitoring and management of Icelandic seal populations. Her research also focuses on anthropogenic interactions with wildlife, such as interactions between pinnipeds and the fishing industry, as well as effects of tourism on ecological parameters and interdisciplinary studies on responsible management of wildlife tourism. She is also interested in transferring of scientific knowledge to society, policy making and public outreach through different media.