IWC General Principles for Whale Watching: additional support for operators, regulators & travellers

The IWC has published new General Principles for Whale Watching.  This succinct, 4-page summary document forms part of a wider package of IWC work to understand and minimise the impacts of whale watching on individual animals, populations and their habitat.  

The General Principles offer advice on a wide range of issues, from vessel speeds and operation of drones to training, education and opportunities for scientific research.  The General Principles fit within the framework of the IWC's 6-year Strategic Plan for Whale Watching which includes research and data collection, capacity building and outreach. 

The IWC has also used its expertise in cetacean science and stewardship to create the Whale Watching Handbook, an ambitious initiative developed in partnership with the Convention for Migratory Species and involving whale watching policy makers, regulators and operators in regions all over the world.
The Handbook is a living, evolving online resource with new content added regularly and available in English, French and Spanish. The next series of updates is being published now and a campaign is also underway to engage with new collaborators in regions not yet heavily featured in the Handbook, including South and Central America, Africa and Asia.

The ultimate aim of all the IWC's work on whale watching is to support regulators, operators and the public achieve the shared goals of whale watching that is educational and sustainable in the long term.

Read more about the IWC's work to support sustainable whale watching.