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Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whales are watched most commonly for recreation (cf. birdwatching) but the activity can also serve scientific or educational purposes.〔Hoyt, E. 2009. Whale watching. In Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, 2nd Edition (Perrin, W.F., B. Würsig and J.G.M. Thewissen, eds.) Academic Press, San Diego, CA., pp1219-1223.〕 A 2009 study, prepared for IFAW, estimated that 13 million people went whale watching globally in 2008. Whale watching generated $2.1 billion per annum in tourism revenue worldwide, employing around 13,000 workers.〔O’Connor, S., Campbell, R., Cortez, H., & Knowles, T., 2009, Whale Watching Worldwide: tourism numbers, expenditures and expanding economic benefits, a special report from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Yarmouth MA, USA, prepared by Economists at Large. http://www.ifaw.org/whalewatchingworldwide〕 The size and rapid growth of the industry has led to complex and continuing debates with the whaling industry about the best use of whales as a natural resource. ==History== Organized whale watching dates back to 1950 when the Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego was declared a public venue for observing Gray Whales and the spectacle attracted 10,000 visitors in its first year.〔 In 1955 the first water-based whale watching commenced in the same area, charging customers $1 per trip to view the whales at closer quarters.〔 The industry spread throughout the western coast of the United States over the following decade.〔 In 1971 the Montreal Zoological Society commenced the first commercial whale watching activity on the eastern side of North America, offering trips in the St. Lawrence River to view Fin and Beluga Whales.〔 In 1984, Erich Hoyt published the first comprehensive book on whale watching, ''The Whale Watcher's Handbook'' which Mark Carwardine called his number one "natural classic" book in ''BBC Wildlife'' Magazine.〔Carwardine, M. 1995. ''Natural Classic'', BBC Wildlife, July, p79.〕 By 1985 more visitors watched whales from New England than California. The rapid growth in this area has been attributed to the relatively dense population of Humpback Whales, whose acrobatic behavior such as breaching (jumping out of the water) and tail-slapping thrilled observers, and the close proximity of whale populations to the large cities there.〔Hoyt, E. 2001. Whale Watching 2001: Worldwide Tourism Numbers, Expenditures, and Expanding Socioeconomic Benefits. International Fund for Animal Welfare, Yarmouth Port, MA, USA, pp. 1-157.〕 Whale watching tourism has grown substantially since the mid-1980s. The first worldwide survey of whale watching was conducted by Erich Hoyt for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) in 1992. It was updated in 1995 and submitted by the UK government to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meetings as a demonstration of the value of living whales.〔 In 1999, the IFAW commissioned Erich Hoyt to expand the detail and coverage of the survey and this was published in 2001.〔 In 2009 the survey was completed by a team of economists and this report estimated that in 2008, 13 million people went whale watching, up from 9 million ten years earlier. Commercial whale watching operations were found in 119 countries. Direct revenue of whale watching trips was estimated at US$872.7 million and indirect revenue of $2,113.1 million was spent by whale watchers in tourism-related businesses.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Whale Watching Worldwide )〕 Whale watching is of particular importance to developing countries. Coastal communities have started to profit directly from the whales' presence, significantly adding to popular support for the protection of these animals from commercial whaling and other threats such as bycatch and ship strikes using the tool of marine protected areas and sanctuaries. In 2007, the Humane Society International sponsored a series of workshops to introduce whale watching to coastal Peru and commissioned Erich Hoyt to write a blueprint for high quality, sustainable whale watching.〔Hoyt, E. 2012. Whale Watching Blueprint – I. Setting up a marine ecotourism operation. Nature Editions, North Berwick, Scotland (978-1-908732-00-2 (eBook) )〕 This manual, later translated into Spanish, French, Indonesian, Japanese, Chinese and Dutch, with co-sponsorship from WDCS, IFAW and Global Ocean was updated in English in 2012 in ebook form.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Whale watching」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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