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vavau-tonga-whale-watch-controversy-sept-12-2010
This is a recording of a live radio broadcast made on Sept. 12, 2010 in Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga, located in the South Pacific Ocean. Vava’u is a popular destination for cruising yachtsmen, and is world famous for its seasonal population of humpback whales. Tonga is also one of a handful of places where swimming with humpback whales is an officially regulated and permitted tourism activity and in Vava’u, “whale watching” (as swimming with whales is regionally known) is vital to the local economy.
Every morning in Vava’u there is a well organized cruiser’s information network broadcast on marine VHF radio channel 26 which covers weather, services, problem solving and more. It is the morning radio show that everyone listens to and in which the audience provides the content. One subject of discussion on Sept. 7 was the ongoing dispute between some yachtsmen and whale watch operators over access to Vava’u’s humpback whales. The dispute has reportedly been simmering for several years and on several occasions during the 2010 season boiled over onto the VHF radio net. On Sept. 7, 2011 there was a 40 minute discussion and debate about the subject; that broadcast can be found in two parts here on the CaptGene SoundCloud page.
Marine VHF radios are standard equipment on virtually any vessel larger than a rowboat, and are used for short range two-way communications of up to 25 miles. Using proper etiquette, anyone with a VHF can transmit on the open airways to the listening public at their discretion.
There are laws in place that prohibit cruisers from interfering with an operator engaged in the activity of whale watching, but at dispute is whether an operator has the right to tell a yacht interacting with a whale to move away. From what has been learned from the radio debates, incredibly, there are no laws that prohibit private boaters from swimming with whales. There are also no laws that give whale watch operators the right to intervene if boaters do so.
What results is, as described on radio interactions, is “the worst of all possible worlds”. With no law regulating the general public swimming with whales there is the potential for a “wild west” situation, a “free for all” that has the risk of serious consequences in the event of an accident. Official regulations are required as soon as possible before the problems becomes manifest. The situation is bad, the mood is ugly, and it could get worse.
The VHF broadcast on Sept. 7 was 40 minutes in duration; this recording of the follow up conversation broadcast on Sept. 12 is about half of that. It was recorded in the galley of a boat, so there is some minor background noise and as the VHF is public access, there are occasional interruptions as third parties attempt to establish communications. There has been no editing or manipulation of the recording. It is included in its entirety and it is a complete record, straight from radio speaker to recorder to internet listener. Comments by the author are provided to help identify speakers in relationship to the subject, to add clarifying background information, and to offer opinion, and will help the listener to fully understand the subject.
Discussion of the subject matter would run for several pages. Interested listeners can read the complete report by and opinions of Capt. Gene Flipse in the Cetacean Situation article “Whale Watching in Tonga: A New Whale War?” found on the Conscious Breath Adventures website at:
http://www.consciousbreathadventures.com/cetacean-situation/2010/tonga-whale-watching.html
"Vava'u, Tonga Whale Watch Controversy Sept. 12, 2010"
by
CaptGene
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- CaptGene
CaptGene at 19.56 on November 11, 2010 21:25
And here the debate ends, with no clear resolution. It will be interesting to see where this will go from here next season.
- CaptGene
CaptGene at 16.06 on November 11, 2010 21:24
Here listeners start speaking up, reinforcing the point Independence raised at 4:43, which is that the marine VHF radio is not an appropriate venue for such a long winded debate. The question is not whether the debate is appropriate, only the choice of venues.
- CaptGene
CaptGene at 14.56 on November 11, 2010 21:19
An excellent point. Whale watch operators are the most qualified to offer guidelines or regulations in light of their experience.
- CaptGene
- CaptGene
CaptGene at 12.11 on November 11, 2010 21:15
What is very important to remember here is the semantics of the discussion. The general public knows "whale watching" to be the activity of observing wild whales from shore or the deck of a boat. In Tonga, the term "whale watching" is used interchangeably with the term "swimming with whales", which is the activity of entering the water in an attempt to see and interact with 40 ton wild animals. So when a speaker says "whale watch" he means "swim with whales". And while no family of five would pay US$1,000 to watch whales from the deck of a boat, they should expect to pay that to interact with a wild animal in its natural environment while under the leadership of an experienced guide. To use my lion analogy again, anyone should be allowed to go on a jeep safari to see lions in Africa, but if they expect to get out of the jeep and walk into the bush to the lion's den, they better be prepared to pay their guide well so they can benefit from his experience, have a successful interaction and come out unharmed. And while a whale is not a lion and will not eat anyone, they are still very dangerous to the inexperienced and uninitiated.
- CaptGene
CaptGene at 11.45 on November 11, 2010 21:04
This speaker is from a private yacht named Ghost. At this point he begins to complain about the attitudes of local swim-with-whale operators by comparing them to local scuba dive operators, and pointing out the differences in the levels of cooperation. However, what he fails to take into consideration is that there is a huge difference between sharing coordinates to a local dive sight with standing by watching as inexperienced, untrained and novice yachtsmen enter the water to interact with 40 ton wild animals. Everyone should be allowed to go to the zoo to see the lions, but that does not mean that everyone should be allowed to enter the lion's den.
- CaptGene
CaptGene at 9.11 on November 11, 2010 20:47
Their argument at this point is off subject, but they are trying to relate the applications of other laws as an exmple of how to adhere to rules that do or do not exist for the whales. And the two speakers start speaking about two separate situations, so they are really comparing oranges and grapefruit: similar, but different subjects
- CaptGene
CaptGene at 6.23 on November 11, 2010 20:41
Lawrence Hall is a representative of the Vava'u Toursit Association and proprietor of Ovava, a restaurant which serves the many whale watch tourists and cruisers who visit Vava'u. Here Lawrence is countering Mr. Hardings emphasis on the letter of the law (or lack thereof) by pointing out old, arcane laws related to cruising in Tonga which are never enforced in practice. Basically, he is saying that if yachstmen want to argue that they are not breaking any laws, then as law abiding cruisers they should also abide by these old laws which greatly limit their freedom to move about.
- CaptGene
CaptGene at 5.37 on November 11, 2010 20:37
Here Mr. Harding misses the point Independence was trying to make. He believes she has a problem with him expressing his opinion, when in fact her problem is with his choice of venue, the public VHF radio.
- CaptGene
CaptGene at 4.43 on November 11, 2010 20:35
Independence is a private yacht. The speaker is bringing up the point that using the VHF radio on a frequency dedicated to port communications is probably not the best or most appropriate venue to resolve this matter. She is correct.
- CaptGene
CaptGene at 0.28 on November 11, 2010 20:29
This speaker is Alister, a local representative of the Tonga Whale Watch Operator's Association. Baker and Alister represent the two poles of the debate.
- CaptGene
CaptGene at 0.01 on November 11, 2010 20:26
Voice of Baker Harding, yachtsman and a moderator of the Vava'u daily VHF cruiser's net. Baker has lived aboard his boat in Vava'u for a few years and has assumed the position of spokesman for the cruising yachtsmen during that time.
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