Marine wildlife. Whale, shark and turtle watching and diving.

27/11/2006 00:00:00 About 75% of the world is covered by water, of which only 3 percent is fresh water. On dry land wildlife exists within a very small band around the earth surface, but the great oceans and seas of the world AVERAGE over 2 miles deep, with their deepest point, the Marianas trench, being comfortably deep enough to swallow Mount Everest whole with a couple of thousand metres to spare (Humans have only reached the bottom of the Marianas trench once, compared with thousands of climbers who have reached the top of Everest.).

Yet the number of known marine species stands at only around 30,000 at the moment, though this is increasing at the rate of roughly one every three days as new discoveries are made. This compares with approximately 4500 species of mammals, 5500 of amphibians, 8000 reptiles and 10000 birds currently recognised by science. When you consider that there is every chance that the number of marine species will grow for many years to come, but there will be very few new discoveries of birds and mammals, and only slightly more reptiles and amphibians, then the seas, rivers and lakes of the world are the places to look if you want to discover a new species. Whale watching
Whale watching is now a well established and burgeoning industry, providing opportunities in almost every sea and ocean. Surprisingly there are only slightly more than 100 species of whales and dolphins, though they are spread far and wide. At least one third of these species are classified as endangered, with the Western Gray and Northern Right whales probably being the rarest. A recent UNEP (United National Environment Programme) report on wildlife tourism recognised the importance of tourism as a force for good in conservation. Whale watch guidelines
However it is a fine line between responsible and sustainable tourism, to degrading the environment and contributing to species decline. Any decent whale watching industry should have strict and enforceable code of conduct. The following has been adopted by whale watching operators in Peninsula Valdes, Argentina, one of the finest whale watch areas in the world. Shark diving
Shark diving and watching is becoming increasingly popular, with cage diving for great whites and boat trips off South Africa, boat trips to see the huge basking shark off the Isle of Man and diving with Whale sharks in the Seychelles all providing different experiences. Turtle watching
Turtle watching is a fast growing sector of the tourism industry. If properly undertaken it can have huge benefits for turtle conservation. There are 8 species of sea turtle in the world, and all are threatened or endangered. The following is taken from a recent UNEP report on the benefits of wildlife tourism.

Projeto TAMAR, established by the Brazilian government in 1980, protects five species of turtles that are found around Brazil’s coasts. TAMAR’s conservation programme is based on a network of 22 stations along 1,100 km of coastline, as well as on three oceanic islands. The stations are located in the major nesting and feeding areas for sea turtles, and provide direct employment to 1,300 people, at least 80 percent of whom are fishermen and their relatives’ resident in villages around the stations. Visitor centres have been opened at the 10 most visited sites, and between them they receive one and a half million visitors each year. The most popular, at Praia do Forte, receives over 500,000 visitors a year, approximately ninety-four per cent of whom are Brazilians; in 2003 this centre alone generated net revenues of $490,000 from sales and admissions. A recent study of Leatherback turtles in Gabon, West Africa, led by Dr Brendan Godley of the University of Exeter, has revealed that 'It's thought that globally more than 50,000 leatherback turtles are incidentally caught by fisherman trawling for other species each year. Of these, thousands are thought to die as a result. Approximately 1.4 billion hooks are cast into the world's oceans as part of industrial long-line fishing, with 37% of this fishing effort in the Atlantic. A major hotspot is found off West Africa, the focus of this study.' Click here for further information. Diving
Diving is a long established, but fast growing sport that is increasingly throwing its net wider and wider. With hotspots in the Caribbean, the Red Sea and on the Great Barrier Reef, this high value sport can now be undertaken almost anywhere in places as diverse as Indonesia, the North Pole, Madagascar and the Amazon.