Before any regulations came into force, a voluntary “code of conduct” was established by the operators, to agree on basic guidelines for a responsible whale watching activity. This was the foundation of the first legislation.
Nowadays, whale watching operates slightly differently on the different islands. For instance, the presence of lookouts (observers who find the cetaceans from land and direct the boats towards them) is common in all the islands. However, in São Miguel and Terceira, each company has its own lookouts, while in Pico and Faial, these lookouts often work for several companies at the same time. From land, the lookouts often help to better organize the trips: e.g., work with timings and location of the different observations to reduce the number of boats together at the same spot. At sea, depending on the sightings and conditions of each day, it’s not uncommon for the participating boats to adapt their trips in accordance with the other boat presents, to avoid overcrowding at any point during the tour. However, this does not always happen, and it is particularly hard to achieve when animals are scarce, especially during the high season.
After more than 30 years of whale watching activity in the archipelago, whale watching staff are often highly experienced, both in technical skills and knowledge about the animals and their behaviour. This expertise is passed from one year to the next within the companies, for the newest members to learn from past experience, although there is not an established protocol to do so. Besides this, it is common for the workers to change company in the archipelago, spreading with them the expertise and lessons learned.
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