They call for professional and responsible tourism around whale watching
Mazatlan, Sinaloa.- The specialist in marine ecology and director of Onca Exploraciones, Óscar Guzón Zataraín, launched a call to regulate the tour operators that are dedicated to whale watching in Mazatlan, or could affect these species.
“Whale watching tourism can be an ally if done in a responsible and ethical way, however, we know that badly managed tourism, irresponsible tourism that has no respect for animals, there may be collisions, there may be injuries Whales with propellers can disrupt fundamental behaviors such as separating mothers from offspring, creating more noise in the area, stressing animals, “he said.
He said that it is up to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to regulate those who dedicate themselves to offer packages for whale watching or exploration. He also stressed that Mazatlan has become a fundamental point for the sighting of the humpback whale in relation to other points in the Mexican Pacific.
“In Mexico, we have an Official Mexican Standard that regulates and gives the guidelines for whale watching activities, it is the NOM-131 of the Semarnat, and one of the achievements we had was that we started in 2006 very sporadically, but for 2010 we generated enough information to send a document to inform that this area was of great whale watching potential, and it was important that Semarnat recognized Mazatlan as an observation area, “he said.
In addition to that, Guzón Zatatarin noted an increase in tour operators who are engaged in whale exploration in Mazatlan, but it is unknown if they are regulated to offer the service.
“There are many people offering whale watching and many of them do not have permission, or they could have it but we don’t know how many do, but we try to follow the guidelines in an orderly manner,” he said.
Source: reaccion informativa
The Mazatlan Post
