Experts call for guidelines on dolphin watching in China

Experts have called for the urgent need to regulate dolphin watching activities in China during a seminar on whale and dolphin conservation in Beijing on Friday.

Whale and dolphin watching has been gaining popularity in China as the populations of the aquatic species recover after a series of policies to protect them, including a ten-year fishing ban in the country's longest river, the Yangtze River, which came into force in 2020, and an annual summer fishing ban in China's major seas.

While familiarizing the general public with these animals and offering a livelihood to retired fishermen, the whale and dolphin watching activities as tourism products have been growing wildly without proper regulation and management.

Incidents of tourist boats chasing and encircling whales and dolphins, staying too close to the animals and speeding have been reported in recent years, causing stress to these sound-sensitive species.

For instance, in 2021, a speedboat owner was arrested on Weizhou Island in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for offering whale watching services without a license as part of a 45-day campaign by local police to regulate whale watching. 

Such chaos is also impacting the endangered Chinese white dolphins and other dolphin species in the country. Media reports show that when boats approach, dolphins dive under water longer than usual: 6 minutes instead of 1 or 2 minutes, and escape from the boats – a sign that dolphin watching activities might be altering the dolphins' behaviors.

Prior to the seminar, efforts had been made at local levels to provide tourists with guidelines. In 2021, Guangxi's Beibu Gulf University teamed up with local environment protection organizations and launched a phone APP for dolphin watching at Sanniang Bay – an important habitat for the Chinese white dolphins in Guangxi. The APP provides information on weather conditions, dolphin behaviors, dos and don'ts in dolphin watching, among other tips.

Experts at the seminar hope to further solicit opinions before pushing forward the work to compile nationwide guidelines.

(Cover image via CFP)

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