Whales for Sale: A Content Analysis of American Whale Watching Operators’ Websites

Digital media, particularly websites, have become a critical component of wildlife tourism experiences, especially during the pretour information-seeking stage. With a focus on whale watching, this study used a grounded theory approach to identify, categorize, and investigate the common themes, text, and images used on 178 whale-watching operator websites across six geographic regions in the US. The results of a content analysis suggest that operators who are predominantly small business owners focus their marketing strategies on elements of their tour offerings and operator characteristics to distinguish themselves from competitors rather than emphasizing the whales themselves, conservation actions, or educational opportunities, catering to a segment of entertainment-oriented rather than sustainability-oriented guests. Ecolabel-certified operators in the sample mentioned conservation and educational topics more, though the information provided could still use improvement. We discuss implications and opportunities for the continued study of media related to whale watching and other marine wildlife tourism activities.