It’s not about having a whale of a time, tourist boats need to give a wide berth

A study has shown whales and dolphins do not enjoy being viewed close up, hence the laws that are in place

26 January 2021 - 20:22 By claire keeton

Humpback whales and dolphins are sensitive to the approaches of whale-watching boats, but most operators in Plettenberg Bay have not been adhering fully to regulations that protect these social marine mammals, a new study shows.

“Out of the 123 whale and dolphin encounters we observed in Plettenberg Bay from 2018 to 2020, only 11 were 100% compliant with all the regulations governing animal encounters,” said project team member Minke Witteveen, from Nelson Mandela University’s Institute for Coastal and Marine Research (https://oceansciences.mandela.ac.za/). ..

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