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Whalewatching FEMM has been intimately related to the establishment of whalewatching programs at different sites of the Ecuadorian coast. Actually, this activity started in Ecuador as an extension of the humpback whale research program that FEMM started in 1991 around the La Plata Island . The promotion of this activity started in 1994 in the Machalilla National Park area and later in other site such as Posorja (1995), Puerto Cayo (1996), Salinas (2001) and Puerto el Morro (2005). FEMM scientists use tourist vessels as their main research platform. If you wish to take a whaleatching tour at the Ecuadorian coast, and at the same time participate in our research program, we invite you to do so through enterprises that have members of the FEMM staff aboard as guides and researchers.
In 2003, FEMM published a whalewatching guide to the humpback whale in Ecuador , which was sponsored by the Department of Tourism of Ecuador . A second edition was published in 2005. Also in 2005, a dolphinwatching guide to the bottlenose dolphin in Puerto El Morro ( Gulf of Guayaquil ) was published. Both documents can be downloaded here for free: Humpback Whalewatching Guide (Spanish) (1Mb) In order to regulate whalewatching in the country, the Ecuadorian government created the Commission for the Supervision of Whale and Dolphin Watching, by Interministerial Decree 026 of March 4, 2002 . This Commission is made up by representatives of the Undersecretary of Environment Management, the Undersecretary of Tourism and the General Direction of Merchant Marine (DIGMER). Since its creation FEMM has been involved in giving consultancy to the members of the Commission. It has also participated, together with other governmental and non governmental organizations, in the elaboration of the regulation for this activity, which were finally issued in June 2004. Whalewatching Regulations in Ecuador (Spanish) (18 Kb)
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Copyright 2004. |
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