Environmentally Friendly Whale Watching

It is pleasing to see details of the new whale-watching vessel, MV Eye~Spy being built for Moreton Bay Whale Watching (now Brisbane Whale Watching Tours). Having been involved in measuring the underwater noise produced by whale-watching vessels and in monitoring humpback whale response to various vessels, it has become apparent that there are two factors which are critical in determining how intrusive, or un-obtrusive, whale-vessel interactions may be. The first factor is the experience, professionalism and competency of the vessel crew in operating near to whales. The second critical factor is vessel design. More often than not, whale watch vessels are simply the vessel which is available and best suits the requirements of the operator, rather than a vessel which is designed to interact with whales. The Eye~Spy is purpose built for whale watching, incorporating many design features which will greatly enhance whale watching encounters for whales, passengers, and vessel operators.

The vessel has excellent all round viewing access, which minimises the amount of manoeuvring required so as to keep passengers facing whales. Less manoeuvring means a steady or constant vessel noise rather than the erratic and unpredictable noise produced by vessels which need to constantly manoeuvre so as to keep their passengers facing whales. The operators have chosen to use special low-noise, ‘skewback’ propellers. For most vessels underway or slowly moving, their underwater noise is dominated by noise produced by the collapse of tiny bubbles which form about the turning propellers. With the low-noise propellers used by the Eye~Spy, the formation of these bubbles will be greatly reduced at all speeds, hence the amount of underwater noise produced will be much less and again, the whales benefit.

A problem with many whale watch vessels is that they are designed as passenger ferry’s and not to linger at idle speeds near to whales. When idled for long periods diesel engines are inefficient and tend to foul their cylinders. When the engines are loaded again after idling for a long period, such as leaving a whale encounter, they tend to emit clouds of sooty black smoke, an unpleasant experience for a perhaps slightly queasy passenger and a decidedly unhealthy experience for a whale breathing nearby. To address this problem the Eye-Spy has opted for diesel engines with highly advanced fuel control features specifically designed to allow the engines to idle for long periods without fouling and to minimise fuel consumption. The result will be a vessel which produces very low exhaust emissions under the demanding requirement for a diesel engine set by lingering slowly near to whales. These engines are also de-coupled by flexible mountings from the ships hull, further acting to reduce the amount of underwater noise and vibration the vessel produces.

Such an advanced vessel combined with the depth of experience of its operators in working near to whales, will ensure that the Eye~Spy provides positive interactions with whales and highly enjoyable whale watching trips for its passengers.

Yours Sincerely,
Dr. Rob McCauley
Centre for Marine Science and Technology
Curtin University
GPO Box U 1987
Perth 6845