Reply to ‘Swim encounters with Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) off Northern Norway: interactive behaviours directed towards Human Divers and Snorkellers obtained from opportunistic underwater video recordings'

Abstract

This is a reply to the research note ‘Swim Encounters with Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) off Northern Norway: Interactive Behaviours directed towards Human Divers and Snorkellers obtained from Opportunistic Underwater Video Recordings’ by C. Pagel, M. Scheer and M. Lück published on the Journal of Ecotourism in the December 2016 issue. This research note gives us the opportunity to reflect on the following aspects: (1) the concepts of sustainability and ecotourism, (2) the researchers’ position in terms of animal ethics, (3) the relevance of the empirical context where the fieldwork occurs and the related research ethics aspect, (4) the difficulty of evaluating risk of injury. We comment on each of these aspects and discuss them in the attempt to clarify research challenges, propose some reflection points and possible alternative approaches for improving research quality in wildlife tourism.