Whale, Dolphin and Seal Watching in Victoria
- Whale and Dolphin Watching in Victoria
- Seal Watching in Victoria
- Sustainable Dolphin Tourism Program
- Commercial Dolphin Watching Tours in Port Phillip Bay
The waters of Victoria support a number of species of whales and dolphins. These animals play important roles in Victoria’s marine ecosystems and provide spectacular viewing opportunities in their natural habitat.
Observing these animals is becoming increasingly popular with residents and visitors to Victoria. Although whales and dolphins can be seen all along Victoria’s coast, there are several spots where whales and dolphins are known to congregate, providing excellent viewing opportunities.
The Victorian government has regulations that govern interactions with whales and dolphins. The current regulations expire on 30 November 2009, to be replaced by new expanded regulations.
For more information on the marine mammals in Victoria please visit the Marine Mammals web page.
Whale and Dolphin Watching in Victoria
The popularity of whale watching has increased significantly in recent years. This industry is now well established and provides an important tourist attraction in Victoria. Victoria’s main whale watching activities are—
- Land-based viewing of Southern right whales and Humpback whales on the west coast from Logan’s Beach at Warrnambool to Portland
- Air and sea based viewing on the west coast, including flights to the Bonney Upwelling out of Portland
- Tour vessel based swimming with and viewing of dolphins at the southern end of Port Phillip Bay
- A small vessel-based tour industry viewing dolphins in the Gippsland Lakes.
When they feel comfortable and not threatened, whales and dolphins commonly approach vessels and swimmers to interact. However, inappropriate or excessive interactions can pose significant risks to the welfare of animals and to the health of marine mammal populations. Interactions can also involve serious risks to public safety, especially where large whales are involved.
Seal Watching in Victoria
Seals are a significant tourist attraction throughout Australia with over 250,000 people participating in seal tourism activities each year in Victoria alone. These activities include boat cruises, sea kayak tours, swimming or scuba diving with seals or viewing from aircraft.
Seal Rocks at Phillip Island is Victoria’s most popular destination for seal watching, with around a quarter of all seals in Victoria located at this important breeding site. Boat-based seal watching tours are available at number of locations including Seal Rocks, Port Phillip Bay (at ‘Chinaman’s Hat’ and ‘Pope’s Eye’) Kanowna Island (at Wilson’s Promontory), Cape Bridgewater and Lady Julia Percy Island. Tours that include swimming with seals are also available in Port Phillip Bay.
Seals on land should not be approached closer than 30m and should be treated with caution. When on land seals cannot move away quickly and may become aggressive if approached. Seals can inflict serious bites in self-defence, and can also carry diseases such as tuberculosis.
Seals are wild animals and should not be handled or fed. Feeding or handling can cause animals to lose their natural wariness of humans. This can be very harmful to these animals, upsetting their natural role as hunters and altering their diets, and putting them at risk of contracting or spreading disease. Animals can also become dangerous or aggressive towards humans when they expect to be fed. Inappropriate or contaminated food can also pose a serious health risk to seals and could even cause death.
Sustainable Dolphin Tourism Program
It is estimated that approximately 80-120 dolphins live in Port Phillip Bay, mainly around the southern area close to the mouth of the bay. These dolphins are predominantly inshore Bottle-nosed Dolphins although other species are seen occasionally.
This population of dolphins is an iconic feature of Port Phillip Bay, a complex marine ecosystem on Melbourne’s doorstep. Dolphins are just one part of this ecosystem, but they are a visible and spectacular one, with which many people seem to have a strong affinity.
In late 2001, there were between five and eight dolphin swim and sightseeing tour operators operating on Port Phillip Bay, catering for more than 10,000 passengers in any one year. Around this time, the State government responded to growing concerns from tour operators, the public and wildlife experts about the welfare of the Bay’s dolphin populations and decided to implement a ‘Sustainable Dolphin Tourism Program’.
This program was led by the Department of Sustainability and Environment with two key organisations enlisted to provide specialised advice and assistance. The Dolphin Research Institute was engaged to analyse several years of data on dolphin interactions with tour and recreational vessels in Port Phillip Bay that had been gathered with the assistance of tour operators. The Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) for Sustainable Tourism was engaged to undertake the review of this and other local and international research, the principal reviewer being Dr Peter Hale of the University of Queensland. The objective of the review was to determine within a triple bottom line framework (ecological, social and economic) whether the level of activity was sustainable and, if not, what action should be taken. The review identified that:
- The Port Phillip Bay dolphin population is small, distinct from adjacent bottlenose dolphin populations in Bass Strait and vulnerable to extinction. Genetic typing research identified that the Port Phillip Bay dolphins are the inshore form of the Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) rather than the more abundant offshore form (Tursiops truncatus) as previously thought
- Breeding females are a critical population parameter. Females stay at or near their birth site and if they perish they are unlikely to be replaced by females from other distant populations
- Tour boats account for far more interaction with dolphins than private recreational boats
- The proximity of tour boats is the key disturbance factor posed by tourism and recreational boating interaction with dolphins in the Bay. Avoidance behaviour (diving, changing direction) in response to tour boats and other motorised vessels is the major indicator of disturbance that needs to be monitored and minimised. While not categorical evidence of stress, "avoidance behaviour" is a recognised indicator of change in natural cetacean behaviour
- The cumulative time that tour boats spent in close proximity to dolphins (within 100m) was high and had increased over the previous two seasons.
Hale Report (PDF - 390 Kb)A second paper on principles for sustainable wildlife tourism was also prepared by Karen Higginbottom, also of the CRC for Sustainable Tourism.
Higginbottom Report (PDF - 286 Kb)Commercial Dolphin Watching Tours in Port Phillip Bay
One of the main outcomes was the need to reduce the number of interactions commercial tour operators were having with the dolphin population. Under section 83 of the Wildlife Act 1975, this could be achieved by reducing the number of permits or licences issued for commercial dolphin tours in the Bay, but it was important to consider the social and economic impacts of such a decision. Taking into account the extensive research in the reports above and the commercial sustainability of the businesses involved, it was determined that the maximum sustainable number of permits that could be issued was four. These permits include strict guidelines on how many times per day and how close a tour operator may approach to dolphins.
Permits to conduct dolphin swim and dolphin watching tours in Port Phillip Bay are currently issued for a term of two years. Permits are issued to applicants through a competitive process that ensures that successful applicants have a sound knowledge of dolphin ecology and behaviour.
DSE maintains a strong education and compliance program on Port Phillip Bay to address inappropriate behaviour of recreational boaters towards dolphins. During the busy summer period, this program sees DSE field staff talking with hundreds of recreational boaters and in some cases can result in the issuing of fines.
The total level of activity, the geographic focus and the number of stakeholders involved in this issue is not large but the issues are complex and the challenge of determining the condition of a wild, and vulnerable wildlife population is difficult. To date, this work has proven the value of an integrated approach involving science, stakeholder consultation, permit management, public education and regulatory enforcement
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