Whales, Nicobar Pigeons and the Bad of Tourism

Hundreds of photographers have flocked here in recent days to take pictures.

It is easy to spot the presence of whales, as there are always hundreds of terns flying above. These birds wait for the whales to open their mouths to swallow their prey, which are small schools of fish, then they rush in to "steal the bait". Photo: Contributor

Everything was very easy. Arrive in Quy Nhon, rent a boat for about 1.2 million VND for two photo sessions, depart at 5am and return at 8am, and leave again at 4pm and return at 6pm.

It only takes about 30 minutes by boat to get to the whale feeding spot. There are about 4 people on a boat to avoid crowding, and the cost is only about 300,000 VND/person.

So easy and cheap, photographers flocked there so much that drones fell all over the place because of collisions!

"I was only 3 meters away from the whale", "Oh, he surfaced only… 1 meter away from my boat" were the joyful shouts of their achievements.

During a trip to Adelaide (Australia) more than a decade ago, an acquaintance of mine turned on his phone and said: "Let's see if the whales are coming back today, let's take our car to Victor Habour to watch them."

And he happily shouted: "I'm back". Our group got in the car and drove about 1 hour to Victor Habour beach.

Thousands of people stood on the beach, some holding binoculars, others using cameras with huge telephoto lenses pointed out to sea.

At that time, I was just watching with my naked eyes and was also overwhelmed by the sight of the largest whale - the humpback - swimming freely, occasionally getting excited and throwing itself into the air, splashing water.

Of course, the people in that area earn a decent income when the humpback whales swim back from the Antarctic, selling food and drinks to serve tens of thousands of people.

What about Quy Nhon? For the fourth year in a row, whales have been spotted near the coast of Quy Nhon during the summer, but it seems that this event only causes a stir in the photography world.

I firmly believe that if the tourism industry cooperates well with ocean scientists , it is entirely possible to organize summer whale watching tours, and that is very attractive and beneficial for children.

For example, whales are extremely sensitive creatures. So if hundreds of photographers rent boats and each tries to get as close as possible to get quality photos, will it affect them?

I don't know how, but when I sat down to write this article on July 15, information from Binh Dinh said that it had been two days since he was seen!?

Since 2022, Bryde's whales have appeared consecutively in many coastal areas of Binh Dinh. This year, at the end of June, the whales appeared very close to shore, reaching their heads until nearly mid-July. Photo: Nguyen Minh Tri

Look outside and see how people behave. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Bureau of Fisheries has guidelines for viewing marine life, which stipulate that boats should not approach whales within 100 meters.

When whales are detected in the area, boat speed should be reduced to approximately 18km/h.

Stopping and turning off the engine to watch whales beyond 100m is only allowed for a maximum of 30 minutes. This applies to both Bryde’s whales and humpback and sperm whales (these two species have also appeared in Vietnam’s waters).

Drones used to monitor whales must be at a minimum altitude of 300m. Killer whales, in particular, cannot be approached closer than 200m.

Looking back at the whale incident near Quy Nhon's coast, if there is no proper organization with strict regulations, he might leave!

Two years ago, wildlife photographers were in a frenzy to take pictures of Nicobar pigeons in Hon Tre (Con Dao). The person who guided people to take pictures was the "bird saint" Bui Thanh Trung.

At that time, the total cost for the Nicobar photography trip was around 10 million VND, including airfare, boat rental from Con Dao to Hon Tre, entrance ticket to Con Dao National Park (50,000 VND) and 2 million VND tip for the guide.

This year, as the number of wildlife photographers has increased, with many new photographers, Trung has received many requests to find Nicobar to take pictures. After 2 days of wandering around, Trung found it.

However, to make the photo shoot more professional and organized as a systematic tour in the spirit of win-win, he worked with Con Dao National Park.

What is "high - low - right price" in organizing a wild bird photography tour is something that requires scientific calculations.

But from a market perspective, the fee offered by Con Dao National Park was too high, no photographers participated and Trung gave up the idea of doing this tour.

For comparison: if you go to Phuket (Thailand) to take pictures of Nicobar pigeons, the total cost is the same as Con Dao, and it is much easier to take pictures.

Or at Cuc Phuong and Nam Cat Tien National Parks - two places where wild bird photography services are organized by skilled people, the fee is 500,000 VND/person/day of shooting and the National Park only takes 20-30% of that fee.

Wildlife viewing and photography is a money-making tourism industry in the world , second only to luxury cruises and high-end resorts.

But in Vietnam, this field is just starting to develop and is lacking in proper behavior.

"Many people in Southeast Asia still think that they have to go to Australia, the US or Japan to join whale watching tours, but in fact the waters around the region are also home to these marine mammals," The Straits Times wrote on Marine Mammal Conservation Day on February 19.

Not including Vietnam's waters, by the end of last year, Thailand's Department of Marine and Coastal Resources recorded nine Bryde's whales in the country's waters, three of which were discovered in November 2024.

This whale species has also been recorded off the coast of Indonesia and Brunei.

And conversely, their departure would indicate that the environment is no longer suitable, added Dr Louisa Ponnampalam, co-founder of Malaysian marine mammal research and conservation organisation MareCet.

As an important indicator of ocean health, the presence of marine mammals along highly urbanised coastlines like Singapore and similar areas highlights the importance of understanding their ecology, to enhance the effectiveness of future conservation efforts, according to The Straits Times.

Once whales call Southeast Asia home, don't let them leave disappointed.