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in Praia do Forte, besides the monitoring carried out by the Instituto Baleia Jubarte,
which is a non-governmental organization with no enforcement authority and that
can only report infractions at best.
Because the long-term consequences of whale-watching interactions are
unknown, management of the humpback whale-watching industry should adopt a
conservative approach. Improved knowledge of the long-term impacts of multiple
exposures to vessels is required to inform its  management (Higham et  al. 2009;
Stamation et al. 2010). Additionally, determining the carrying capacity of whales to
whale-watching is one of the greatest challenges for its sustainable management,
although little information is available on how to calculate it (Berrow 2003).
Fig. 3.8 Whale-watching vessel approach in Praia do Forte has been observed to cause whales to
change swimming course (a). Additionally, groups of whales are often observed by more than one
vessel simultaneously and for long periods of time (b): the legislation stipulates the maximum
observation time for each individual vessel but does not prohibit vessels from immediately
approaching the group as soon as others depart (Photos: a  – Luena Fernandes and b  – Enrico
Marcovaldi/Instituto Baleia Jubarte)
3 An Integrated Framework to Assess the Carrying Capacity…