Sustainability of sharing dolphins in Fernando de Noronha (Brazil)

Abstract

Fernando de Noronha (FN) is in the dream travel list of many Brazilians and foreign visitors given the easy access there to Nature and marine wildlife. The unique possibility of watching spinner dolphins made these animals become one of the main tourist attractions on the archipelago. Dolphin watching at FN has positive and negative aspects. Among positive ones are the awareness-raising for marine conservation and income generation for the local community, while as negative ones one can cite mortality and wounding by collisions, as well as behavioral changes due to nautical tourism pressure. This article endeavors to demonstrate the need to implement a sustainable management for nautical tourism in Fernando de Noronha, with an emphasis on spinner dolphin watching tourism. The sharing of dolphins at FN was summarized as: legal framework and norms for cetacean conservation; interaction o dolphins with nautical tourism and diving; and a proposal to manage nautical tourism in FN. Current national legislation is quite clear in relation to the role of the public sector in the sharing of dolphins in FN. Between January and December 2023, the Dolphins Lookout was visited by 4,493 tourists (N=87; X=51,64; DP=20,14). 1,368 tour boat passings in front of the Bay of Dolphins were observed (N=907; X=15,20; DP=5,67), with dolphins following the boats in eight occasions (0.58%). At Santo Antônio Bay/Entre Ilhas 12,909 spinner groupings were observed. The proposal of the Spinner Dolphin Project for the sharing of dolphins in Noronha follows the strategy of organizing stakeholders by area and tour services. The areas were divided in FN National Park and FN Environmental Protection Area. Tour services were classified as dolphin tour, freediving, towed diving, SCUBA diving, human-powered small boats (kayak, hawaiian canoe, pedalboat, etc.), and fishing. Success in conserving the dolphins of FN is extremely dependent on the degree of understanding of nature by the local community and the support of islanders to this process, as the degree of environmental conservation of the archipelago will always be related to their degree of environmental awareness. Therefore, it’s not possible to conserve the FN spinner dolphins without the islanders’ support.