Rottnest Island tours, Western Australia
How this vacation makes a difference
Environment
Our company is committed to operating Eco Adventures in an environmentally sustainable manner. Our partnership with the Centre for Whale Research allowed us to build a program embracing all of their acknowledged and approved principles in respect to marine mammal interaction including:
1. Professional training for our Skippers and crew on the correct methods for vessel interaction with marine animals. We follow a very strict set of guidelines developed in respect to how vessels are manoeuvred and interact with all marine animals. We have willingly shared these with other tour operators.
2. Our customers undertake a complete educational process on our tours where they are provided with wildlife fact sheets and maps. Our primary goal in doing this is to help our passengers to understand how to interact with the wildlife in their natural environment and also care for their future.
3. There is no direct contact with the wildlife as the tour is conducted from a vessel, however our customers must remain within the confines of the vessel and under no circumstances throw any object from the vessel into the ocean. External to the tour itself we have a waste minimisation strategy including a comprehensive recycling program.
We have recently partnered with the Rottnest Island Conservation Foundation in which part proceeds from the sale of each ticket will assist the foundation in funding environmental and heritage works on the Island. The foundation plays a significant role in supporting the conservation of Rottnest’s natural and cultural assets and building and maintaining fundraising activities to set up these projects.
This partnership is a first and is still in the process of development however we believe this partnership can only play a positive role in making a difference to Rottnest Island.
The boat: The craft is built for environmental cruising – covered open air seating gives passengers up close and personal interactions with wildlife with minimal impact on the environment. The 12.5 meter vessel is powered by three 300 horsepower Mercury Verado supercharged 4-stroke engines. Electronically balanced, the three engines operate effectively at low revs with extremely high fuel efficiency with correspondingly low emissions.
Education: We pride ourselves on our expert and passionate hosts who deliver up to date commentary and information on all historical, environmental, social and cultural aspects of the island. It is our goal to develop the quality of information further through our partnership with the Rottnest Island Conservation Foundation and utilize their expert knowledge and research they have conducted on the island for many years. With this access to such information we are creating a first-hand education experience. We have also developed fact sheets which focus on the Rottnest Island marine life and bird life and sit in the back of each seats for all to view.
Whale and Dolphin Code: All skippers, crew and hosts are informed of strict protocols to follow when entering wildlife zones. Our partnership with the Centre for Whale Research have kinkldy shared their strict set of protocols which have been developed and refined over time. These set of protocols have been infiltrated through the company and all skippers and hosts are to follow this set of protocols when in contact with wildlife. Examples of the protocols are ways in which the boat is maneuvered around wildlife and distances the vessel must be from wildlife encounters. We also monitor wildlife encounters on behalf of CALM with numbers of whales sited and locations being logged in an official log book.
Community
We partner and sponsor community events and organisations to promote awareness of our indigenous heritage. We were the principal sponsors of the Reconciliation Day held on Rottnest Island to launch the governments Reconciliation Action Plan.
On that day we carried over 150 people to the Island free of charge for the ceremony and have now become the major supporter of Indigenous Tourism on the Island. We are now working closely with local indigenous people to develop other indigenous tourism
products and in doing so create further employment opportunities.
We partner with & sponsor local community organizations and assist in sustaining annual community events such as:
- Rottnest Channel Swim
- Canteen Annual National Camp
- Fund-raising events in support of breast & ovarian cancer research
- Youth Care
- Local and regional school groups participating in annual camps
- Scout groups We also provide continual in-kind support through donations to local community and fund-raising groups and to a number of local sporting groups including WAFL, UWA and Surf Lifesaving Clubs.
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