THE department of Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) has announced the names of 12 boat-based whale-watching licence holders for the year 2000 whale-watching season.
This follows the "overwhelming success" of the 1999 first season of boat-based whale-watching along the South African coast.
"This success has ensured that the project becomes an integral part of the MTN Whale Route," says MTN Whale Route chairman, Greg Vogt.
He explained that before June 1998, the law forbade all craft from approaching within 300 metres of a whale, but authorities were persuaded to rethink the laws with whale-watching becoming a major growth sector with international tourists.
"We wanted to ensure that the industry grew in an orderly manner so that we could prevent the situation we've seen in other countries where unacceptable numbers of boats surround whales when a sighting occurs."
Vogt says that South Africa has an unusually high number of marine animals and that this, together with factors such as clean waters and relatively quiet shipping lanes, means that the country can offer "world-class" whale-watching experiences.
The following individuals, trained and accredited by South African Tourism (Satour), have been granted licences:
Berni Pols of West Coast Adventures (Velddrift), Bruce See of Waterfront Boat Trips (Cape Town), Michelle Joliffe of Ocean View and Masiphumelele Fishing (Kommetjie), Phillip May of the Hawston Community (Hermanus), Rudy Hayes of Ivanhoe Safaris (Gansbaai), Xagene Lotz of Breakwater Adventures (Kleinbaai)
Wim Klapwijk of Romonza Boat Trips (Mossel Bay), Trevor Kay of Kelsea Charters (Knysna), Dr Vic Cockroft of Spyhopper Adventures and the MTN Centre for Dolphin Studies (Plettenberg Bay), Wayne Harrison of Adventure Extreme Ocean Safaris (Shelly Beach), Clive Keith of Aurora Marine (Richards Bay) and Danie Bennet of Advantage Cruises (St Lucia).
(Adele Mackenzie)
