Article
Carbon footprint of whale watching humpbacked (Megaptera novaeangliae) islands in Marietas, Nayarit, Mexico [La huella de carbono de la observación de Ballena Jorobada (Megaptera novaeangliae) en las Islas Marietas, Nayarit, México]
Fecha
2014Autor
Cornejo Ortega, J.L.
Chavez Dagostino, R.M.
Institución
Resumen
During the winter, whale watching is the main attraction in the Bay of Banderas, being the humpback whale the main species. Although considered a low-impact activity of educational content, due to the origin and the number of tourists, CO2 emissions can be significant, so this paper estimates the overall impact through carbon footprint generated by the whale watching activity in the Marietas Islands, Nayarit, Mexico. A total of 136 visitors who performed whale watching activity were surveyed from December 2010 to March 2011 and then surveys were statistically analyzed. The emissions were calculate at Atmosfair on line and included transportation from major origin and adjacent cities to Puerto Vallarta, local transport, accommodation and activities in which they participated during their stay at the destination. The carbon footprint of whale watching experience varied between 0.28 and 6.9 t/CO2 per person. The estimated average per person was 1.93 t/CO2, while a global tourist trip average (i.e., including travel using air or ground transportation) was estimated to generate 0.25t /CO2; therefore whale watching experience is above average.