Whale of a time in Madagascar

2004-08-26 08:48

Sainte-Marie - The shallow and warm waters off a remote port on this island are alive with the sound of music - the eerie wailing of hundreds of humpback whales, who escape the rigours of the Antarctic winter and come here every year to breed and croon.

The whales have given rise to a major tourist industry in the past 10 years. An island of only 19 000 inhabitants off the north-eastern coast of Madagascar, Sainte-Marie has more than 50 hotels, including three opened this year.

Not surprisingly, local authorities and hoteliers are determined to protect both the singing cetaceans and their livelihood, but say the Madagascar government is coming under strong pressure to allow the docile whales to be hunted.

Whale hunting concerns

They see developing the tourist industry as the best way of saving the 12m humpbacks. "The more tourists we have here, the more people there will be who are concerned about the defence of the whales and of the sea," hotel-owner Isabelle Ortolo said.

Desire Tsivatou, the mayor of Sainte-Marie said "whale safaris" have grown in importance in July and August each year since 1993. There are few places in the world where visitors can be more certain of getting within shutter-snapping distance of the giant mammals.

Local authorities and hoteliers this year have organised several events to popularise the humpbacks, including a painting contest in schools and a four-day whale festival, starting Wednesday.

The hoteliers also fund the activities of a French research association, Megaptera, which seeks to identify and follow the whales on an annual basis.

"The people of Sainte-Marie have to understand the importance of this sanctuary to resist the pressure of Japan and others," said Valerie Collin, the co-ordinator of Megaptera.

One danger, she said, is that local fishermen may start seeing the humpbacks as a source of profit. The fishermen "used to be afraid of the whales, but since they have seen us approaching them, they are not so frightened and they may be lured into hunting them," Collin said.

For the time being, Madagascar supports the international moratorium on hunting in force since 1986, said Didier Cabocel, president of Saint-Marie's whale commission, "above all because hunting whales is not at all traditional here."

"But the hunting nations like Japan and Norway are putting enormous economic pressure on the Madagascar authorities," he said.

Collin said local authorities for the moment seem willing to defend the humpbacks, "but with these economic pressures, we shouldn't dream - the whales are really in danger here."

Isabelle Ortolo said the tourist industry wants to turn the offshore waters into a nature reserve, like Nosy-Be, an island off Madagascar's north-western coast, "so that hunting is definitely banned."

- AFP