Whale Watching: More Than Meets The Eyes.

Whale Watching: More Than Meets The Eyes. A special report from WDC

WDC 7 Nelson Street Plymouth, MA 02360 Tel: +1 (508)746-2522

Report prepared by: Michel Harms*, WDC Regina Asmutis-Silvia, WDC Allison Rosner, NOAA

* Primary contact: Michel.Harms@

? 2013 WDC This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from WDC.

Citation: Michel Harms, Regina Asmutis-Silvia, and Allison Rosner. 2013. Whale Watching: More Than Meets The Eyes. Report to NOAA's Fisheries Northeast Region Program Office (NERO), 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Award Number NA11NMF4720240. 113pp.

Abstract ABSTRACT: This study explores a possible causal relationship between whale watch experience, a whale watcher's awareness of problems and their consequences in order to foster support for marine conservation. If effective, whale watching can stimulate individuals to feel concern for marine mammals, responsibility for the marine environment and commitment to activities that support marine conservation. However, survey data have shown that participants on whale watch tours in New England showed decreased concern after the completion of the trip. It is, therefore, recommended that, besides creating concern for marine mammals and promoting initiatives to support marine conservation, a whale watch tour should also make marine conservation issues personally relevant. Communicating through the general public's egoistic value orientation, by addressing negative consequences for human beings resulting from adverse consequences on the marine environment, can result in pro-environmental behavior that supports marine conservation. KEYWORDS: Whale watching, marine mammal, effectiveness, value orientations, awareness of consequences, marine conservation

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Preface and Acknowledgements PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would first of all like to send our gratitude to the owners and crew of the Captain John Boats in Plymouth, MA, and the Hyannis Whale Watcher in Barnstable, MA, for their cooperation and offering their boats to function as the platform for this study's field research. Additionally, and this can't be stressed enough, we are grateful to the WDCS-interns for their assistance in providing us with data. More specifically, thank you Sandra Balbierz, Lisa Barrett, Amanda Bogart, Emily Cariota, Hayley Reifeiss, Lindsay Hirt, Lauren Kanter, Rachel Karasik, Brigid McKenna, Aishling O'Doherty, Skyler Suhrer, and Lydia Utley for your assistance and determination on the boats. Many thanks also to Lee Burns, Garrett Coakley, Jake Levenson, Kate O'Connell, Keith Palmer, Monica Pepe, Paul and Tracy Robinson, Dot Rocca, Silvia Scontus, David Silvia, Karen Urciuoli, Michael Uvanitte, Karen Vale, and Chris Vick for their support, and great times provided. And thanks to Laura Bridge for your help in the final edits of this manuscript. And we cannot forget each and every one of those whale watchers. They are the backbone for this study and provided their time, sincerity, enthusiasm, and input. And last but not least, a special thanks goes out to Assistant Professor Maarten H. Jacobs at the Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands for his guidance and advice. Michel Harms, Regina Asmutis-Silvia and Allison Rosner

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Table of Content

Table of Content

1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................8 1.1 Background.............................................................................................................................8 1.1.1 Critical issues....................................................................................................................8 1.1.2 Responsible whale watching............................................................................................9 1.1.3 Whale watching in Northeastern United States ............................................................10 1.1.4 Whale SENSE ..................................................................................................................10 1.2 Internship objective..............................................................................................................11 1.2.1 Problem statement ........................................................................................................11 1.2.2 Internship assignment ...................................................................................................11 1.3 Research Focus .....................................................................................................................12 1.3.1 Research objectives .......................................................................................................12 1.3.2 Products and deliverables..............................................................................................14

2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .............................................................15 2.1 The Cognitive hierarchy........................................................................................................15 2.1.1 Value orientations..........................................................................................................16 2.1.2 Environmental value orientations .................................................................................16 2.1.3 Norms.............................................................................................................................17 2.1.4 Behavioral intentions .....................................................................................................18 2.2 Value-Belief-Norm theory ....................................................................................................18 2.2.1 Awareness of Consequences .........................................................................................19 2.2.2 Ascription of Responsibility ...........................................................................................19 2.3 Understanding of oceans' vulnerability ...............................................................................20 2.4 Hypotheses ...........................................................................................................................21 2.5 Conceptual Framework ........................................................................................................21

3 METHODS AND RESEARCH SETTING ...........................................................................................23 3.1 Study site ..............................................................................................................................23 3.2 Methodology of data generation .........................................................................................24 3.2.1 Procedures .....................................................................................................................24 3.2.2 Measurements ...............................................................................................................25 3.2.3 Limitations......................................................................................................................26

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