Marine tourism is a multi-million pound industry, with thousands of tourism operators around the world taking people out to view animals in their natural environment. This activity can have huge economic benefits and can also have a positive influence on human behaviour via environmental education. However, this requires managing marine tourism in a sustainable manner that minimises the risk of disturbance (or other negative impacts) on the target species.

I am currently involved in projects quantifying human-use of the marine environment and the potential impacts of marine tourism on marine megafauna.

Collaborators:

Ms Diana Rocha – PhD student, University of Portsmouth (leading a project investigating the sustainability of cetacean-based tourism in Mozambique)

Dr Ben Drakeford – University of Portsmouth

Dr Jonathan Potts – University of Portsmouth

Dr Gonzalo Araujo – Marine and Conservation Foundation (MARECO)

Ms Hollie Booth – University of Oxford