Whale Watching
A curious whale approaches a tour boat, to the delight of onlookers - Montague Island Tours with Narooma Charters
Watching whales can be an exhilarating experience. Seeing some of the world's largest, and sometimes most endangered, species is fast becoming a must-do wildlife experience all over the world. Whale watching can be done for recreational purposes, but also for scientific research and educational reasons.
Whale watching as an organised activity started in 1950 in San Diego, USA. In 1955 the first water-based whale watching commenced in the same area.
The growth of the whale-watching industry
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s whale watching spread throughout the world. It was estimated that in the year 2000, 11.3 million participants participated in this activity, generating around US$1.5bn – making it an important tourism resource and adding an economic reason for whale conservation.
Today whale watching is carried out in various ways:
Water-based, using vessels ranging from kayaks and sailboats through to fishing or whaling boats and custom-built craft that can carry hundreds of people.
Land-based, at strategic lookouts that allow watching of the species that come very close to shore.
Air-based, offering helicopter viewing of species that usually stay some distance from the shore.
Whale watching in Australia
Australia now hosts over 1.5 million whale watchers contributing close to $300 million to the national economy annually (IFAW 2004). The growth of the industry is highest in NSW, which experienced a 37% growth in the period 1998 - 2003 (IFAW 2004).
More recent research undertaken by Tourism Research Australia shows that between 2003 and 2008 the number of boat-based whale watching increased at an average annual rate of 8%. Land-based watching is also on the rise, this probably due to anecdotal evidence that coastal regions in Australia are having more consistent whale visitation, compared to infrequent and inconsistent visits in the past.
NSW has some of the best locations for land-based watching, where whales come quite close to the shore. The many opportunities available as well as its affordability make whale watching an easy and accessible activity for most of us. Find a location near you using our Whale Watching Map.
