Impacts Of Kayaking And Canoeing On Marine Life Of North Stradbroke Island
Background
The tourism type selected in this assignment is the adventure tourism. Exploitation of the natural resources has adversely affected the habitats of the fauna and flora. The major drive behind this is the fulfilment of the basic human needs. Decreasing greenery in the ecosystems have reduced the tourists, passionate towards adventure (Epstein, 2018). This assignment attempts to assess the impact of the Kayaking and Canoeing on the marine life of North Stradbroke islands. This is in terms of ensuring the conservation means for the rivers, which have become intolerable for the marine life. Moreover, it has aggravated the complexities for the adventurers (Papathanasopoulou et al., 2016).
North Stradbroke Island is situated within Moreton Bay, Queensland. Before the era of 1896, the island was considered as a part of Stradbroke island. The island is the habitat of rare, vulnerable and endangered species like migratory wading birds, Wallum froglet, Sedge frog and Pygmy Perch. Diversity is also reflected in the flora with 599 native and 181 introduced species.
Figure: North Stradbroke Island
(Source: Straddiekingfishertours.com.au, 2018)
The island has achieved accolades and glory for the increased tourism. This is because of the provision of effective water rides for taking the adventurers into the close proximity to the ecological biodiversity. As a matter of specification, these rides includes kayaking and canoeing services (Martin, Ballance & Groves, 2016).
Figure: Kayaking services in the Stradbroke Island
(Source: Straddiekingfishertours.com.au, 2018)
Kayaking and canoes are used as a sports activity in the lakes, rivers and water bodies. For participating in the activities, the participants need to be physically fit. As a matter of specification, it is used as a water transport used for carrying the passengers from one place to another. In tourism, kayaking and canoe are used solely used for the purpose of providing recreational facilities to the tourists, which increases the profit margin of the tourism industry (McKinnon et al., 2015).
Kayaking and Canoeing
The waters surrounding the North Stradbroke Island enliven the scenic beauty of Brisbane. The beauty of the lakes is enhanced through the conglomeration of the mangrove forests. There are five beaches in the island, which has attained popularity due to the activities of fishing, surfing and many other water sports. The diversity marine life mesmerizes the tourists. This includes whales, dolphins, turtles and dugongs and colourful fishes. With the onset of the spring, it is the breeding season for the animals, which enhances the marine life at the island. Farming of the fish species is the main source of income for the people living in the nearby areas. The tourism industry personnel provides thrilling opportunities to the tourists to delve deep into the island and experience the exotic marine world through snorkelling, scuba diving and witnessing the sea life from the shores (Hammerton & Bucher, 2015).
The canoes and kayaks are prepared from the skin of the animals. This reduces the number of the population of the marine animals (Chiu et al., 2014).
Figure: Kayak made from the skin of sea mammals
(Source: Bowles & Ruhanen, 2018)
Adherence to the guidelines helps the paddlers to avoid dangers and ensure the privacy of both the animals and the humans in waters. Cleanliness and hygiene of the canoes and other equipments, after their usage, prevents the spread of infectious disease to the marine animals. On the other hand, non-compliance to the environmental directives makes the tourists and the environmental agencies guilty of polluting the environment (Jones et al., 2016). Typical examples of this includes throwing the wastes here and there instead of dustbins; launching canoes from water among others.
Conclusion:
This assignment takes up the burning issue of the degrading water quality, which is destroying the habitat of the marine animals. Literature review is produced in terms of making the readers aware of the extent to which the rivers, lakes and other water bodies are polluted. This is intentional, as their needs, demands and requirements are fulfilled through the exploitation of the natural resources. Narrowing the focus on the kayaking and canoeing activities is Nortn Stradbroke Island proves beneficial in terms of producing relevant data related to the environmental degradation. The reference of the island is just a part for the extended form of degradation, which is destroying the ecological diversity. The need of the hour is introduction of effective and flexible environmental directives and guidelines for conserving the environmental diversity. Tourism industry needs to consider the directives and guidelines for catering to the recreational needs of the tourists through the preservation of ecological biodiversity.
References:
Bowles, L., & Ruhanen, L. (2018). Disseminating environmental ethics and values: a study of ecotourism business owners. Tourism Review, 73(2), 252-261.
(Link- https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/TR-08-2017-0136)
Chiu, Y. T. H., Lee, W. I., & Chen, T. H. (2014). Environmentally responsible behavior in ecotourism: Antecedents and implications. Tourism management, 40, 321-329.
(Link- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517713001325)
Epstein, M. J. (2018). Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental and economic impacts. Routledge.
Hammerton, Z., & Bucher, D. (2015). Levels of intervention–reducing SCUBA-diver impact within subtropical marine protected areas. Journal of Ecotourism, 14(1), 3-20.
Jones, N. A., Ross, H., Shaw, S., Witt, K., Pinner, B., & Rissik, D. (2016). Values towards waterways in south east Queensland: Why people care. Marine Policy, 71, 121-131.
Martin, S. L., Ballance, L. T., & Groves, T. (2016). An ecosystem services perspective for the oceanic eastern tropical Pacific: Commercial fisheries, carbon storage, recreational fishing, and biodiversity. Frontiers in Marine Science, 3, 50.
McKinnon, A., Browne, M., Whiteing, A., & Piecyk, M. (Eds.). (2015). Green logistics: Improving the environmental sustainability of logistics. Kogan Page Publishers.
Papathanasopoulou, E., White, M. P., Hattam, C., Lannin, A., Harvey, A., & Spencer, A. (2016). Valuing the health benefits of physical activities in the marine environment and their importance for marine spatial planning. Marine Policy, 63, 144-152.
Straddiekingfishertours.com.au (2018), About us, Retrieved 12th August 2018 from https://www.straddiekingfishertours.com.au/straddie-kayaking-tours.html