About Whales Worldwide
Whales Worldwide is dedicated to providing our customers with a safe, comfortable, educational and thoroughly relaxing whale and dolphin watching holiday. We like to impart detailed knowledge on the marine mammals and other regional wildlife we encounter and on the wider issues of marine conservation. We emphasise the current threats facing these unique marine mammals and their fragile ecosystems and what actions are being taken to negate these threats. We directly support conservation measures through education and financial contributions.
Whale and Dolphin Conservation and Education
Our holidays, whilst being designed specifically to enable customers to have a unique and memorable whale and dolphin wildlife encounter, are always oriented towards education with a strong bias towards supporting local conservation efforts on the ground. We always ensure that our interactions with whales and dolphins and other wildlife keep our impact on them to an absolute minimum. To this end we use local guides and operators who adhere to this strict code of conduct.
Safety Policy
Boat trips that we take at our destinations are all subject to the International Marine safety code for passenger safety at sea or the National Marine safety codes of the countries concerned.
Environmental Policy
We adopt a “leave no trace” policy in all the wildlife destinations we visit; taking only pictures and leaving only our wake.
Responsible Whale and Dolphin Watching
Whales World Wide is committed to a national accreditation protocol, which dictates that all boat operators in the destinations we visit are properly trained to conduct marine wildlife tours in order to maximize the opportunities for customers and minimize pressure on the animals and habitats being viewed.
Our Senior Tour Leader
Your passion for the animals and commitment to their well-being made the trip for us – an experience we will never forget.
Sean O’Regan
Our senior tour leader, marine zoologist Dr Nic Slocum, has been watching whales and dolphins from boats for over 20 years. Through his detailed observations of whales and dolphins and his abiding passion for the natural world and its diverse wildlife Nic has developed a sound understanding of where in the world some of the most unique whale and dolphin encounters may be experienced. Nic holds DCMNR/Ministry of Transport approved Certificates of Proficiency in First Aid on Board Ships and Personal Survival Techniques and has a Category B endorsement to his License to Operate issued by the DCMNR/Ministry of Transport in Ireland. With these qualifications and detailed experience of escorted expeditions to remote corners of the globe including Mexico, South America and Africa, Nic Slocum is ideally qualified to host whale and dolphin watching holidays around the world. In addition Nic holds an Advanced Powerboat Certificate issued by the Irish Sailing Association and a Yachtmaster Offshore qualification issued by the Royal Yachting Association which enables him to evaluate overseas boat operators very carefully before we use them.
My wife and I were extremely impressed with your depth of knowledge and your enthusiasm for cetaceans and the natural world in general.
Simon Thompson
These statements embody exactly the core philosophies adopted by Slocum when viewing marine wildlife:
Customers must have a safe, enjoyable time and a memorable experience. The information provided to customers must be accurate and detailed. Above all we must have a minimum impact on wildlife and the environment. Nic has been a director of Whale Watch West Cork for the last eight years which under his management has grown rapidly to become, as many claim, Ireland’s leading whale and dolphin watch operator.
Committed to the sustainable development of marine tourism and the conservation of fragile marine ecosystems and aware of the limitations of the guidelines governing the interaction of boats and cetaceans Nic has spent the past four years reviewing guidelines and codes of conduct from around the world covering the interaction of boats and marine wildlife. Addressing interaction at the species level Nic has created the most comprehensive code of conduct for whale watching vessels currently employed in Ireland. Nic has received many accolades for his environmentally friendly approach culminating most recently with the Irish travel writer Catherine Mack commenting in her new book Ecoescape Ireland that “…Nic’s expertise has led him to draw up a code of conduct for whale watching to encourage best practice in conservation and education in the whale watching business. Let’s hope all other operators follow suit…”
Nic Slocum has contributed to both an Australian and Chilean report on the qualitative and quantitative development of whale watching contributing to the world wide information on the growth and structure of whale watching operations around the globe. He contributes to regular blogs, Environment Matters, Focussing on Wildlife and Whale Watching News and Expert Views in which he critically appraises issues spanning commercial whaling and marine pollution to commercial fishing and exploitation of marine natural resources. He is frequently called upon to comment on marine wildlife related issues on both national and regional radio and has contributed to and provided consultancy for television programmes such as BBC 999 with Michael Burke, ITV This Is Your Life with Michael Aspel, Channel 4 A Place By The Sea with Seetha Hallett and RTE1 Eco Eye with Duncan Stewart.