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The Caribbean sea covers 970,000 square miles and includes some
of the deepest parts of the Atlantic ocean, offering a diverse range
of marine habitats to over 30 whale species. It is not surprising
then that the region provides considerable opportunities for the
development of whale watching. In fact, the West Indies and Central
America have the second fastest growing whale watching industry
of all the world's continental regions.
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By 1999, 14 out of the 23 countries and territories in the
Caribbean participated in whale watching activities. The forerunners
of whale watching in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic
and the Bahamas, have flourishing ecotourism economies worth
a combined US$9.4 million a year. The whale watching industry
in the Dominican Republic was also given a boost by the creation
of the Silver Bank Humpback Whale Marine Sanctuary, where
the largest concentration of Humpback whales in the world
gather to mate and calve.
There is considerable potential for developing the whale
watching industry in the Caribbean. However, islands such
as St Lucia and Dominica are actively pursuing policies that
prevent them from fully realising this potential as they,
along with four other eastern Caribbean islands, vote in support
of Japan's efforts to restart commercial whaling in the International
Whaling Commission (IWC).
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Policies in favour of whaling are incompatible with the development
of the whale watching industry, which provides financial independence
to the local people and has the potential to develop into a thriving
industry in the Caribbean.
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whales | whaling | environmental impacts | solutions | greenpeace & the whales
