A rejoinder to comments on 'Swim encounters with killer whales (Orcinus orca) off northern Norway: interactive behaviours directed towards human divers and snorkellers obtained from opportunistic underwater video recordings'

摘要

The commenters provided critical thoughts about our research note, and we welcome critical discourse on this topic. While we appreciate the commenters' position on a number of points made, we strongly disagree with the view that our study may hinder local management activities among stakeholders. In fact, as this was the first scientific behavioural study on whale-watching activities at this specific site, the findings of our study provide valuable data that can help shape the future management of SWPs in the area. As at most other SWP locations, local management regimes are typically reactionary and baseline, and impact studies are essential to induce enforcable governmental regulations. We stress that we provide data for management activities and material for the initiation of educational activities for both customers and operators. In this context, we put our research methodology and standards in place using globally applied strategies.