Responsible Whale Watching

Icelandic whale watching companies have developed a Code of Conduct to try and ensure we watch the whales but do not disturb their behaviour and feeding. Láki Tours was instrumental in helping create the code (see below). This code is not law in Iceland but we hope one day it will be. By using this as a guide to how we approach the whales, the distance, speed and direction we can watch them without disturbance. All whale watching companies in Iceland should be adhering to this code and here at Láki Tours we believe very strongly in responsible whale watching. The code of conduct can be seen below.

IceWhale (Icelandic Association of Whale Watcher’s) Conferences 2015

22.02.2015: We just came back from two days in Reykjavík where we participated in the IceWhale (Icelandic Association of Whale Watcher’s) conference. We listened to a lot of very good talks – mostly on the topics of onboard education, marketing issues, and whale watching guidelines – and gave some presentations ourselves (Marie on killer whale watching laws and guidelines in Canada/the US, and on the code of conduct for responsible whale watching that Láki Tours has already used for a long time).

The ultimate goal of the conference was to get all whale watching companies that are involved with IceWhale to sign a whale watching code of conduct for Iceland and pledge themselves to adhere to certain standards for speed, distance, and approach when watching whales. Gísli, who is the chairman of IceWhale, played a key role in this process, and took the lead in welcoming the ambassadors of both the British and the US embassy who attended the formal signing of the code of conduct, as well as the Icelandic Minister of Industry and Commerce, with a festive speech. At the end, eight whale watching companies signed the code of conduct! This is a major step for the development of sustainable whale watching in Iceland, and we are delighted with the outcome of this meeting! Now this code of conduct needs to be implemented by all whale watching companies equally in practice and made available to private boaters as well.

Congratulations to the IceWhale committee for an outstanding achievement, and thank you to all supporters in the process.