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Acrobats of the ocean

Synchronizing tourism and wildlife protection in Panama

October 25^th, 2017

They are natural acrobats, more than ten metres long and weighing about 40 tonnes. Humpback whales set off on their migration from the Antarctic to the warm Panamanian waters between June and October, travelling together about 8,000 kilometres in search of a temperate climate.

The Gulf of Panama is witness to the longest migration by a mammal. Two populations of humpback whales arrive in the gulf’s waters every year: those from the Northern Hemisphere, who come from Alaska and reach the coast of Panama between January and March, and those from the Antarctic, who travel between July and October.

In their passage from the South Pacific, the whales reach Peru, Ecuador or Colombia, and many swim on some kilometres more until they reach Panamanian waters. There, they breed and bring their offspring into the world, providing a unique spectacle for locals, scientists and tourists.

The mammals settle into their new home, very close to shore, before the eyes of dozens of whale watchers perched on boats hoping for an up-close encounter with whales and dolphins. However, the growing number of boats and their proximity to the cetaceans, plus contact with fishing nets and pollution, have endangered these marine behemoths.

Responsible whale and dolphin watching is crucial to the protection of these animals and, in turn, is an opportunity for sustainable tourism that provides direct benefits to the local tour operators. This is why the Ministry of Environment partnered with the Aquatic Resources Authority of Panama, UNDP and the Marviva Foundation to build capacity among the people who do this work, to help them strengthen their businesses while safeguarding the marine habitat. With funding from the Global Environment Facility, the projects trains participants on responsible whale watching and biodiversity protection.

Pedro Santimateo saw his first whale 16 years ago. Since then, he has worked in the Pearl Islands and has made whale watching his trade. He explains that he has witnessed unforgettable moments in marine life, such as the birth of a baby whale, known as a calf.

“That was my best experience, because it was so impressive to see the group,” Pedro recalls. “Around 14 to 16 males gather around to protect the baby that has just been born.”

Not everything moment is so full of joy. Pedro acknowledges that increased tourism and uncontrolled whale watching have affected the mammals: “One guy came out of nowhere at full throttle and rode on top of the whale, hitting it. The whale sank, and for me that’s not right. When we called the guy out, he replied that his client wanted to dive into the water with the whale, and that’s why they approached at that speed.”

Pedro Santimateo saw his first whale 16 years ago and decided to make whale watching his his job.

Pedro says he and fellow tour operators are seeing a change in the animals. “The whales are not doing what they used to do years ago. They are not coming out, they are not playing. I think something is happening,” he says. On days when the cetaceans are hard to spot, if just one surfaces, “some eight to ten boats go after the whale chasing it, and she gets upset. And that happens almost every day,” he laments.

Pedro, along with 36 other boatmen and tourism operators, were trained by UNDP in responsible and sustainable whale watching. Many combine fishing with tourism to make a living, and they are determined to do so in an environmentally-friendly way.

“If I don’t have the whale, what can I offer my client? I always try to respect the whale because it is part of nature,” he explains. But he says there are new boatmen who do not respect the animals, who approach them, frighten them or even harm them.

The whales “travel to these areas because the waters are warm and shallow where they can teach their young to breathe and other skills they will need to survive,” UNDP project coordinator Malena Sarlo explains.

“We must remember that they are marine mammals and need to come up to the surface.”

The risk is to interfere in this natural behaviour. “For example, if the mother is teaching some skill to her offspring, it has to expend energy in escaping, which otherwise would have been used to learn something new,” Malena says. To promote sustainable tourism, UNDP helped identify priority areas for conservation and protection of these animals on whale- and dolphin-watching maps.

Malena Sarlo is a project coordinator with UNDP.

In addition, UNDP supported an update of the cetacean watching protocol: the regulations governing responsible marine mammal watching in their natural habitat. Among other suggestions, the protocol recommends watching for no more than 30 minutes from a distance of 250 metres from the animal. The boat’s motor must be on, but in neutral; the boat should travel parallel to the whales, without intercepting them, and at low speed to avoid making noise.

UNDP supported an update of the cetacean watching protocol. Among other things, it recommends watching from a distance of 250 metres.

Larger ships that transit through the Panama Canal also represent a potential danger to the whales. Every year, around 17,000 ships enter and exit the Gulf of Panama. To prevent collisions between mammals and ships, the Panama Marine Corridor regulates the passage of ships using Traffic Separation Schemes that minimize contact between the animals and the merchant fleet.

The Panama Marine Corridor uses Traffic Separation Schemes to prevent collisions between mammals and ships.

But tourism and shipping are not the only risks facing whales. The islands making up the Pearl Islands—one of the country’s four archipelagos—produce eight tonnes of garbage a week. “This plastic comes from the city, comes from the sea, so we must do our part. First, reduce our consumption, definitely, and reuse and recycle,” says Magdalena Velázquez, the Marviva Foundation’s communications manager.

Magdalena Velázquez is the communications manager for Marviva.

“Once we have trained them, we certify those who are definitely fit for whale watching. They can be the stewards of the treasure we have in this area," explains Roger López Correa, administrator of the Panama Tourism Authority.