Human-bottlenose dolphin interactions within wildlife tourism, ocean recreation and fisheries

Abstract

Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus and Tursiops aduncus; BND) live in coastal waters, prompting frequent contact with humans. Interaction with BND can be either planned (e.g. swim-with-dolphin experiences) or chance (e.g. BND surfing on boat wakes). These charismatic cetaceans are common in many forms of wildlife tourism, including marine wildlife tours, swim-with-dolphin experiences and hand feeding. BND also interact with humans by chance during ocean recreation activities, such as surfing, swimming and boating. Within fisheries, there is both cooperation and conflict between humans and BND. Through a literature review, this paper highlights the effects such interactions cause to both BND and humans with a focus on wildlife tourism, ocean recreation and fisheries.