Editorial: WILDLIFE WATCHING

August-September 2004

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD

by Alan Wilson

If you’ve ever been tempted to think that humanity has lost its connection to nature, here’s some reassuring information we came across while researching this issue.

In 2001, the US Fish and Wildlife Service conducted a survey in the United States showing that over 66 million citizens engaged in some form of wildlife watching activity that year, spending over $38 billion and generating $85 billion in overall economic activity.

This is evidence of a strong human need to encounter other creatures and spend time away from human-made environments. These wild encounters help put our priorities in perspective. They remind us there are other intelligent life forms right here on earth, lives of great intricacy, beauty and mystery. And by watching them, we can learn a great deal.

But most of us aren’t scientists. When it comes to wildlife watching, it’s our personal, original, experiential ‘research’ we’re talking about—our stories, our emotional responses, our photographs. And maybe in time perhaps, our species ID, our habitat study, our donation to conservation causes.

The proliferation and success of wildlife watching businesses demonstrates how real this connection is. Building on what seems an innate human fascination with wildlife, a multitude of small businesses have sprung up, providing close (but hopefully not too close) encounters, proving we can achieve economic development without sacrificing the environment—in fact, by celebrating it.

With wilderness shrinking and biodiversity in steep decline, the value of wild creatures and their remaining wilderness is steadily increasing. These are the real treasures of this world and they are vanishing before our eyes.

In this issue we look at some of the beings—and their societies—to be encountered on the water, and some of the concerns involved in low impact experience, to ensure our ‘watching’ isn’t a disturbance in itself.

In addition, we invite you to check out our special on-line Wildlife Watching Directory for businesses offering various types of wildlife watching, including kayak tours, mothership trips, whale watching, etc.—see www.WaveLengthMagazine.com

The cover of this issue is a picture my wife Laurie took one calm morning a few years ago. I see the feather as a kayak, the droplet as the mind of the paddler, the sea and sky as one. We wish you wonderful wildlife watching.