Linking behavioural changes due to tourist vessels interactions with management

Abstract

1. The negative effects produced by the interactions between vessels and cetaceans have raised questions regarding the sustainability of whale-watching tourism.2. The aim of this study was to build a descriptive model of the energy costs derived from changes in the behavior of southern right whales subjected to interactions with tourist boats, as a source of information for management decision-making in whale-watching operations.3. Markov chains and model simulations showed that the high energy behaviours were the most sensitive to the presence of vessels. The vessel exposure threshold depended on the group type, being always lower in solitary whales.4. The values of exposure to vessels for southern right whales in San Antonio Bay always fall below the threshold values emerging from the model.5. An understanding of the exposure thresholds is essential for the development of management strategies that allow the sustainable development of the whale-watching activity.