| Title: |
Conservation and Education Through Ecotourism: Using Citizen Science to Monitor Cetaceans in the Four-Island Region of Maui, Hawaii. |
| Authors: |
Currie, Jens J.; Stack, Stephanie H.; Kaufman, Gregory D. |
| Source: |
Tourism in Marine Environments; 2025, Vol. 20 Issue 4, p391-397, 7p |
| Subject Terms: |
ECOTOURISM; CITIZEN science; MARINE mammals; NATURE conservation; ACQUISITION of data; CETACEA; UNIVERSITY research |
| Geographic Terms: |
HAWAII; MAUI (Hawaii) |
| Abstract: |
Pacific Whale Foundation (PWF) Eco-Adventures operates a fleet of nine ecotour vessels in Maui, Hawaii and has used these vessels as an opportunistic research platform since 2010. The researchers at PWF have utilized ecotour vessels as a platform of opportunity (PoP) to collect photo‐ID data, through a program called Researcher-on-Board (ROB) and for the development of an application to log cetacean sightings, called Whale and Dolphin Tracker (WDT). In this article we compare the amount of data collected using these two methods and contrast to systematic research surveys taking place in the same location and same time period to demonstrate the value of citizen science. Both the ROB and WDT programs have been shown to be cost-effective alternatives to surveys aboard dedicated research vessels, with the additional benefit of having tour operations contribute directly to the management and monitoring of marine mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| : |
Copyright of Tourism in Marine Environments is the property of Cognizant, LLC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| Database: |
Complementary Index |