| Our
Ecological and Environmental Concerns
Our tours are educational and our "Sail with
the Whales" tour captures the essence of being
quiet and non intrusive or invasive on the water.
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| Tuan with Humpback Whale |
Marine mammals, seabirds and other marine life are being
impacted daily by an ever increasing number of vessels travelling
the same waters as they at ever increasing speeds. The speed
and size of boats/ships vary, as do the propeller sounds that
are being emitted under and above the surface of the water.
BIRDS in particular are impacted greatly by high speed craft
and often do not have a chance to take flight. The North Island
whale watching community was greatly alarmed when the male
orca A60, was observed in 2003 to have extensive propeller
markings down the right side of his body. We will never know
the extent of the damage caused or the pain suffered by him,
but we do know that the cause was the result of a boat propeller,
and likely inflicted at high speed. The sight of those propeller
markings on A60 have made an indelible imprint in the minds
of many of us in the community and has changed forever any
naive thinking, regarding human impact on marine life.
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| Garbage on Beach |
EVERY vessel on the water, including kayaks,
impact marine wildlife. A growing awareness and education
within the local whale watch community makes for better and
more responsible wildlife viewing; where viewing of all marine
life, including sea birds, is carried out with great care
and sensitivity, with respect to the needs of the marine mammals
and birds who inhabit these coastal waters.
In their habitat, Marine mammals and seabirds require quietness
and space to move at their own pace. A need for SPACE
requires less boat speed and greater distancing from birds
and marine mammals, it also requires a shift from acceleration
into neutral or slow idle when nearing marine life and a change
of direction away from birds and marine mammals who are resting
on the surface of the water.
The RESTING and FEEDING/FORAGING
behaviour of marine mammals and seabirds can be severely
impacted by mariners and kayakers who do not recognize the
significance of this behaviour and move too close or continue
to proceed forward, frequently disrupting and disturbing resting
lines of orcas or flocks of birds by their irresponsible and
selfish actions.
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The Impact
of Human Garbage
The amount of human garbage found floating on the ocean and
washed up on beaches is growing at an alarming rate. Garbage
left on beaches on one continent can now be found on another
having travelled thousands of miles with the tide.
Plastics (bottles, bags, straws and 6 pack rings, assorted
containers), aluminum cans, cigarette butts, tampons, polystyrene
food and drink containers, fishing tackle/nylon line and assorted
rope are but a few of the more common items found strewn along
beaches throughout the world; these same items are being swallowed
by numerous species of cetaceans and seabirds. Biopsies have
shown a single shark to have ingested several aluminum pop
cans, plastic bags and bottles. Fatalities and agonizing suffering
before death, occur daily in the worlds oceans when cetaceans
and seabirds become entangled in plastics, nylon fishing lines,
nets and ropes and caught in the midst of oil spills.
When we care to stop and look at the damage that the human
species has already caused to planet earth, in all corners
of the globe and impacting all species, it is overwhelming.
We all have stories to tell of the changes that we in our
own short lifetime have witnessed, as ecosystems and habitats
are damaged and destroyed, and the species who live within.
Many of us are asking the question "Where have all the
birds gone to: the trees, the flowers, butterflies, moths,
lady bugs, fish, whales, dolphins and porpoises, and why?"
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| Helmet Crab |
Ultimately, if each and everyone of us take responsibility
for our own wastes and the accumulation and disposal of plastics,
chemicals and other garbage safely, when we choose to do without
"junk and junk foods" and we personally take to
cleaning up beaches, forests and parklands after others have
left rubbish behind, when we become purposely aware of a more
simple way of life and lifestyle and change our attitude,
we may start to make a different kind of impact, a gentle
one with care and thought for other species with whom we share
this planet earth and are still able to enjoy.
Awareness is the key. A friend
once told the story that he was staying at his brothers house
and had gone shopping at the supermarket with his 10 year
old niece. He couldn't help notice when she stopped to place
the bananas that they were buying into a separate plastic
bag. He asked her why, when bananas had their own natural
wrap and did not require a bag. He also made the comment that
if they purchased bananas every day for the family, how many
extra bags would they use in a week, and in a year, and then
multiply it by the number of families living in their city.
It is an extraordinary thought to ponder, how many extra
plastic bags make it into a landfill or ocean each year, simply
because we have got used to putting bananas into a plastic
bag! Think what a difference it would make globally if EVERYONE
started using recyclable cloth bags whenever they went shopping
and that product packaging and plastic bags became a thing
of the past.
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