World Whale Conference
8th – 11th October 2019
The Beach House Hotel, 344 The Esplanade, Scarness, Hervey Bay, QLD 4655, Australia
Conference Agenda
The theme for this year's conference is ‘Journeys that Inspire Change’
With 2020 just around the corner, the World Whale Conference will set out a 10-year manifesto declaring our intentions, motives, and strategy to protect cetaceans and their habitats from 2020-2030. As the largest gathering of whale watching tourism experts, NGOs, scientists, artists, and individuals with a passion for all things cetacean, the World Whale Conference is the perfect place to plan for a brighter future! The conference will breathe life into the manifesto, and give us the hope and direction we need to continue on journeys that inspire change!
MONDAY 7 October - PRE-CONFERENCE DAY
Excursions
Opportunity to head out whale watching with the Hervey Bay fleet!
Late Afternoon
WELCOME RECEPTION
TUESDAY 8 October - WWC Day 1
Journeys That Inspire Change
Morning
8:30 – 9:00 Registration - Tea / Coffee on arrival
9:00 – 9:30 Launch conference. Official Butchulla Welcome to Country
9:30 – 10:00 KEYNOTE ADDRESS: TBA
10:00 – 10:45 KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Thirty years with the Humpback whales of Hervey Bay: an inspirational journey
Drs Trish Franklin and Wally Franklin.
The Oceania Project, Australia; Southern Cross University, Australia
10:45 – 11:15 Morning Tea/Coffee Break
MORNING PRESENTATION SESSION: JOURNEYS THAT INSPIRE CHANGE
11:15 – 11:30 Encounters with Ocean Megafauna
Clint Hempsall. Professional cinematographer, Australia
11:30 – 11:45 Diving deeper into our relationship with whales and their Ocean home
Glenn Edney. Te Wairua O Te Moananui-Ocean Spirit Charitable Trust, New Zealand
11:45 – 12:00 "Tails of Stellwagen - Art as Language for Communicating Science"
Richard W Dolan, Boston Harbor Cruises. New England Aquarium, USA
12:00 – 12:15 Take 3 for the Whales
Roberta Dixon-Valk. Take 3 for the Whales, Australia
12:15 – 12:30 Whale watching and Akrasia – an uneasy relationship?
Michael Lück1 and David A. Fennell2
1 Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand; 2 Brock University, St Catharines, Canada
12:30 – 12:45 Connecting cetaceans with people living far from the sea
Ursula Tscherter. Marine biologist and educator, Switzerland
12:45 – 13:00 The humpback whale, Madagascar's new emblematic species
Anjara Saloma, Marine Charton, François-Xavier Mayer, Didier Cabocel, François Mailhé, Paolo Lamano, Dina Andrianaivoravelona, Henry Bellon. Cetamada, Madagascar
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 14:15 The Transformational Power of Swimming with Whales
Mette Lubczyk. Senior Swim-with Guide, Tonga
14:15 - 14:30 What’s in the message? Unpacking message delivery in Australian whale watching tours.
Dr Liz Hawkins & Dr Kay Dimmock.
Dolphin Research Australia & Southern Cross University, Australia
14:30 – 15:30 Workshop: How do we encourage people to act to protect cetaceans and our oceans?
Led by Suzanne Rogers, Jo White and Matthew Payne.
Human Behaviour Change For Animals, UK
15:30 – 16:00: Coffee break
LATE AFTERNOON PRESENTATION SESSION: EXPLORING WHALE MIGRATIONS
16:00 – 16:15 A current affair: associations between the East Australian Current and humpback whale entanglement in Queensland shark-control nets
Jessica A. Bolin; David S. Schoeman, Carme Piza-Roca, Kylie L. Scales.
Global-Change Ecology Research Group, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia
16:15 – 16:30 East Australian humpback whales calving on the northern migration: evidence from the Gold Coast Bay, Queensland, Australia
Torre-Williams, L1,2, Reinke, J. 2,3, Meynecke, J.O. 2,3, Martinez, E.1,4
1Coastal-Marine Research Group, School of Natural and Computational Sciences, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand;
2Griffith Centre for Coastal Management, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia;
3 Humpbacks and High-rises, Queensland, Australia; 4 Applied and Environmental Sciences Department, NorthTec, Whangārei 0148, New Zealand
16:30 – 16:45 Investigating migration patterns of the humpback whale population D and E1 using citizen science.
Jan-Olaf Meynecke, Sarah McCulloch.
Humpbacks & High-rises, Griffith Centre for Coastal Management, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia
16:45 – 17:00 Monitoring a threatened beluga whale population using photographic identification
Kasey Ryan (Presenter) 1, S. Ferguson1,2, M. Marcoux1,2, W.R. Koski3, B. Young2, and C. Watt1,2
1University of Manitoba, Winnipeg MB, Canada; 2Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Winnipeg MB, Canada; 3LGL Limited, King City ON, Canada
17:00 – 17:15 A cost-effective approach for photogrammetry of free-roaming whales
Emily A. Gregory, Vikki Schaffer, Javier X. Leon, Carmen Piza-Roca, Kylie L. Scales.
University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
17:15 – 17:30 Tired eyes no more: Automated image recognition of humpback whale fluke identification surpasses human manual matching.
Ted Cheeseman, Ken Southerland, Jinmo Park, & Phillip Clapham.
Southern Cross University, Australia; Happywhale; ESTsoft; NOAA, USA
WEDNESDAY 9 October WWC DAY 2
Towards
responsible tourism for whales and dolphins
Morning
8:30 – 9:00 Doors open, Tea / Coffee on arrival
9:00 – 9:15 Welcome and introductions
9:15 – 10:00 KEYNOTE ADDRESS: The whale watching journey. What have we learned over 50 years of growth?
Professor Mark Orams.
Sustainability Research Centre, USC Business School, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia; School of Sport and Recreation, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
MORNING PRESENTATION SESSION: RESPONSIBLE IN-WATER ENCOUNTERS WITH CETACEANS
10:00 – 10:45 Short talks
10:00 – 10:15 A review of commercial swim tours with Humpback whales in Australia
Raquel Trejo , Brendan P. Kelaher, Anna Scott , Jan-Olaf Meynecke, & Matt Curnock.
National Marine Science Centre and Marine Ecology Research Centre, Southern Cross University, Australia; Griffith Centre for Coastal Management, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia; CSIRO Land and Water,c/- ATSIP Building, James Cook University, Queensland, Australia
10:15 – 10:30 What do we know about whales in Hervey Bay and how we can protect them?
Stephanie Stack. Pacific Whale Foundation, Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia
10:30 – 10:45 Swim-with-humpback whales in Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga: Behavioural responses of mothers and calves to swimmer approaches
Lorenzo Fiori, Emmanuelle Martinez, Mark B. Orams, Barbara Bollard.
Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
10:45 – 11:15 Coffee break
11:15 – 11:30 Risky business: Demographics of highly interactive dwarf minke whales during swim-with encounters
Suzanne Hillcoat, Dr Alastair Birtles, Dr Naomi Gardiner, Dr Matt Curnock.
James Cook University; CSIRO, Australia
11:30 – 11:45 “A match made in heaven? Swim-with-cetaceans programs and citizen science provide exceptionally rich opportunities for research”
Alastair Birtles, Suzanne Hillcoat, Emily Daley, Claire Barr & Martha Brians.
James Cook University, Australia
11:45 – 12:00 Exploring the influence of social media on swim-with-whale tourist behaviour: A case study of swim-with humpback whales tourism in Niue
Chantal D. Pagel1, Mark Orams1,2, Michael Lück1.
1Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand; 2University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
AFTERNOON PRESENTATION SESSION: RESPONSIBLE WHALE WATCHING
12:00 – 12:15 Towards a sustainable whale watching in Reunion island in the South West Indian Ocean: assessing and mitigating humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) tourism disturbance
Ludovic Hoarau, Dalleau Mayeul, Delaspre Sylvain, Landes Anne-Emmanuelle.
CEDTM (Centre d'Etude et de Découverte des Tortues Marines), Réunion Island
12:15 – 12:30 Whale watching tourism promoting the development of coastal communities and local professionals in Brazil
Sergio Cipolotti. Humpback Whale Institute, Brazil
12:30 – 12:45 When visiting whales in Juneau, Alaska – Are there enough to go around?
Suzie Teerlink. NOAA Fisheries, USA
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 14:30 Keynote address: Doing Well by Doing Good: The Importance of Social Enterprise Models in Sustainable Whale Watching
Paul Forestell, Ph.D. Pacific Whale Foundation, Hawaii, USA
14:30 – 14:45 New Zealand’s Marine Mammals Protection Regulations (MMPR): Why are different user groups violating them?
Yasmine M. Elmahdy, Mark B. Orams, Michael Lück.
School of Sport and Recreation, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand; USC Business School and Sustainability Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia; School of Hospitality and Tourism, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
14:45 – 15:00 The legal frameworks of whale watching activities in the Indian Ocean: evaluating the most effective tools to mitigate whale-watching abuse for the “whale route” project
Stéphanie Sorby. University of Réunion Island, IRD
15:00 – 15:15 The dolphin captivity problem and possible solutions
Nick Stewart. Global Head of Wildlife – Dolphins, World Animal Protection, UK
15:15 – 15:45 Expert Panel Q&A. What does the future for whale and dolphin tourism look like?
15:45 – 16:15 Coffee break
16:15 – 17:30 IDEAS EXCHANGE SESSION! How responsible whale watching can save Planet Earth!
17:30 – 18:30 World Cetacean Alliance Partner meeting / AGM
THURSDAY 10 October WWC DAY 3:
The Power of Local Communities to Protect Whales and Dolphins
On site and across Hervey Bay all day
Morning
MORNING WHALE WATCH - Official Conference Event.
08:00 – 12:00 Responsible whale watching tour
Take a trip out to see the whales and learn more about responsible whale watching practices.
Afternoon
14:00 – 17:00 The Hervey Bay story
Hear the Hervey Bay story from the local people across Hervey Bay.
Unveiling the Whale Sculpture
The art piece, to be constructed of sustainable bamboo, will represent a humpback whale and calf, signifying the importance of Hervey Bay’s annual “whale nursery” in the calm waters between K’gari Fraser Island and the mainland.
Evening
19:30 – 22:00 An Evening with Whale People
19:30 – 20:00. Video presentations
19:30 – 19:45 Educating kids about oceans in their habitat
Aeon Bashir, Menaka Nagarajan. Aeon for Ocean, Minnesota, USA
19:45 – 20:00 Effects of the interaction with charismatic species on people's environmental awareness in Baja California Sur, Mexico
María Laura Marcías, Christian Salvadeo, Lizbeth Salgado-Beltran.
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, Baja California
20:00 – 22:00 Whale People – a collection of art and stories about two communities separated by a watery divide!
FRIDAY 11 October WHS DAY 1:
Whale Conservation and Heritage Awards
Morning
Whale Heritage Sites Summit
Morning session:
8:30 – 9:00 Doors open, Tea / Coffee on arrival
9:00 – 9:30 Keynote address: Glen Miller
9:30 – 10:45 Whale Heritage Sites
Celebrating achievements across our network of Whale Heritage Sites and announcing newly certified sites.
10:45 – 11.15 Morning Tea/Coffee break
11:15 – 13:00 Celebrating cetaceans
How to create small and big events that will inspire the next generation of ocean advocates and meet a key criterion for Whale Heritage Site certification!
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
Afternoon
14:00 – 16:00 Whale Conservation Awards
16:00 – 16:30 Afternoon Tea/Coffee
16:30 – 17:00 Launch: Manifesto for Whales and Dolphins – WCA plan for the next 10 years!
17:00 – 17:30 Executive summary and close
Evening
19:00 Dinner at The Hervey Bay Boat Club (raffle / auction / fancy dress / fun!) (details to be announced soon).
SATURDAY 12 October
Stranding Response Workshop: ORRCA (Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia) led Stranding Response Theoretical and Practical Training (To Be Confirmed)
Morning Session: Stranding Response theory session
Preparing for a rescue incident
Venue: University Sunshine Coast, Fraser Coast Campus (TBC)
Afternoon Training: Put our community training to the test on the beach (main beach near the pier, TBC)
Presentation of certificates to all attendees