The Workshop agreed that "academic usefulness" meant the use of whale watching as a formal academic tool, either focusing on the biology and ecology of the experience, or as an interface with other curricula (e.g., mathematics, geography, history, literature). In addition to traditional academic applications, educational programs may also serve professional/vocational purposes such as training guides or tourism personnel, providing internships for students and research staff, and training teachers.
A whale watching experience can be utilised not only by those who go to sea or to sites on shore, but by those who participate indirectly through technological linkages. An example was given from Colombia, where a local school was linked with a school in England. The English school was studying the whole Amazon ecosystem and had adopted a dolphin. The interchange between the two cultures was exciting and enlightening for both groups of students.
Whale watching may be viewed as an enticement to get students (and teachers) interested in local species and ecosystems, and to stimulate an interest in formal schooling in cetology, oceanography, ecology and/or conservation biology.
To be an effective classroom extension, whale watching is best integrated with academic programmes in at least two ways:
A potential valuable contribution of whale watching to education in general is its ability to expose students to the methods of Scientific inquiry. This can be accomplished by incorporating a research component into the whale watch experience. Whale watching as an extension of the classroom will benefit from exposure to local scientists and scientific activity. It is important to educate the educators themselves to realise that whale watching is an outstanding educational resource which should utilise local science and scientists.
There are wide differences throughout the world in resources, educational philosophies, local customs and regulations, and availability of platforms. Consequently, activities and materials used need to be tailored to meet a variety of requirements.
NG0s and other community groups can assist in the identification and distribution of resource materials appropriate for various sites. Teaching kits which can be modified for local situations are already available and can be expanded. Such kits can emphasise global concerns and demonstrate linkages between ecosystems.
NG0s and community groups can also identify local experts, guides, and researchers and encourage them to visit classrooms. Efforts should also be made to identify and distribute artifacts, audio-visual materials and collateral resources.
The use of whale watching in an academic setting should not only emphasise content but should serve to develop critical thinking skills, sharpen problem-solving skills, provide exposure to the elements of scientific inquiry, and enhance awareness of the environment. These broader goals may be accomplished by using the whale watch experience in a variety of contexts, depending upon location and available resources. These contexts may include the following.
The Workshop recommended that an Internet clearing-house for whale watch educational materials be developed. A currently available site established by Rauno Lauhakangas of Finland (present at the Workshop) in the World Wide Web's Virtual Library (the Whale Watching Web: ) provides an initial model site. Additional efforts should focus on providing information in many languages on diverse topics which could then be downloaded and modified. Although many tour operators or educators wishing to utilise whale watching as an academic tool will not have access to a computerised database, the continued effort to build such a mechanism should not be discouraged.
In addition to the provision of collateral materials, a need exists to build and share a repertoire of useful exercises and activities of varying degrees of sophistication. In many areas, schools already use whale watch tours to support units on conservation, marine mammal biology and natural history. This effort may be enhanced by an exercise as simple as adopting a member of a designated species, organising a beach clean-up, or writing opinions concerning current conservation topics. More elaborate exercises may build on the whale watch experience by having students participate in the research effort by completing sightings data sheets, detailing behavioural observations, or documenting ancillary data on environmental conditions. An example comes from Argentina, where primary and secondary schools organise six-day nature trips, which include southern right whale watching activities. However, such trips are not yet part of the curricula. At least eight tourism companies were involved in these trips. One company, Ebano Viajes, which specialises in educational trips, sent 450 children to Peninsula Valdes in 1996. The number of educational trips to this locale has increased year after year.
The Internet and the World Wide Web will be able to contribute substantially to whale watch education by providing materials and by linking guides and operators globally. Even with the present drawback that many operations, especially in developing nations, cannot access the Internet, a substantial impact on educational applications is being effected elsewhere. Systems currently in place are providing information on locations, biology, ecology and conservation, and are expanding rapidly in terms of the number of websites and information content.
The funding of academic applications of whale watching may be provided by a variety of community organisations. Local businesses generally consider support of educational programmes as an important investment in the community. It is recognised that part of the educating process is that of teaching funding agencies about the importance of supporting educational programmes that utilise whale watching. Departments of Education can frequently provide some funding for field excursions, or will at least help reduce the cost to the students by providing transportation.
Operators should also be encouraged to provide whale watching for local school groups. In many cases, school whale watches can be scheduled in addition to regular commercial trips, so that the only additional cost to the operator is fuel (crews are normally paid by the day not the trip). NG0s can also play an important role in finding funding based on a partnership of community groups.
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