Dear MARMAM community, On behalf of my coauthors, I am pleased to share our recent article published in Frontiers in Mammal Science:
Antichi S, Urbán R. J and Viloria-Gómora L (2026) Swim-with-orca tourism: impacts and management responses in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Frontiers in Mammal Science 5: 1888690. Abstract Dolphin-watching and swim-with-dolphin tourism have expanded worldwide as part of the broader growth of marine mammal tourism. These activities can provide economic benefits to coastal communities, strengthen public engagement with marine wildlife, and promote conservation awareness. At the same time, repeated exposure to vessels and swimmers can affect cetacean behavior, habitat use, and, in some cases, population dynamics. Swim-with-orca tourism is a more recent and geographically restricted form of marine mammal tourism. Most available information comes from Northern Norway, where seasonal aggregations of orcas support a snorkeling industry. Existing studies suggest that underwater encounters between people and orcas do not necessarily trigger negative responses, but the long-term ecological consequences of repeated exposure remain uncertain. This review examines the current state of swim-with-dolphin and swim-with-orca tourism, with particular attention to their ecological and management implications. We then focus on Mexico, where marine mammal tourism is growing and where summer foraging aggregations of orcas in the Gulf of California have recently attracted increasing tourism interest and opportunistic swim-with-orca activities. As a case study, we describe the 2025–2026 swim-with-orca management plan for the Cerralvo Island region, Baja California Sur, Mexico. The plan establishes operational limits, spatial restrictions, and collaborative monitoring among authorities, researchers, and tourism operators. Although it shows some limits and its effectiveness will need to be evaluated over time, it provides an early example of a precautionary management approach to reduce human impacts while supporting more sustainable wildlife tourism. The paper can be downloaded at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmamm.2026.1888690 <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://doi.org/10.3389/fmamm.2026.1888690__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!W3w5jrSoyXeV-ZffQO1PEIq9-TKybRab8v87u0m4FDImaGRiRxvLbGS7TuNCAiojRmS4jHkdWMHN7PWKRQHGQTw$> If you have any questions regarding our work, please contact me at: [email protected] Best regards, Simone Antichi, PhD Balearic Islands Coastal Observing System (SOCIB), Palma, Spain
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