Tonga is one of the few places in the world where you can swim with humpback whales but at what cost to the animals? A new study by New Zealand’s AUT University has found tourists swimming with humpbacks whales in northern Tonga are disturbing the mother-calf pairs. Drone footage captured mother whales dive deeper to avoid tour boats but as infant calves are not capable of doing so, the youngsters are separated from their mother more often when tours are underway.
There are now over 20 commercial operators taking thousands of tourists out to snorkel close to the whales each year and with regulations on swimming with whales in Tonga not well enforced, with 38.4 per cent of tours contravening “whale resting times” (the time between each interaction with tour boats), this is of great concern because swim-with-whales tours continue to grow in popularity and have done so over the past 20 years.
The Tonga government says it is committed to providing a safe environment for whales and the tourism sector and is currently reviewing regulations, taking on board recommendations from the research including limiting operating hours, installing GPS tracking and observers on boats, and declaring a ‘no-go’ safe zones for nursing mothers.
