This is the second half of a recording of a live radio broadcast made on Sept. 7, 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.

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 is the second half of that. The first half can also be found here on SoundCloud on the CaptGene page. 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. Other than splitting the track into two clips, there has been no editing or manipulation of the recording. The two parts taken together are 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