Cruising Vanuatu? A closer look at wildlife encounters

As FREERANGER prepares to spend August and September cruising through Vanuatu, we've been taking a closer look at the guidance available for wildlife encounters.

We were pleased to learn that Vanuatu has developed some excellent resources, many of them created through collaboration between government, local conservation organisations and regional partners.

For many sailors, the some of the most memorable moments of cruising in the Pacific are the wildlife encounters be it a turtle surfacing alongside, a pod of dolphins riding the bow wave, or humpback whales passing offshore during their annual migration.

Vanuatu offers all of these. Its waters support sea turtles, dugongs, reef sharks, rays, whales and an extraordinary diversity of marine life. Increasingly, they also come with something else: practical guidance on how visitors can experience these encounters without disturbing the animals themselves.

The guidance reflects a growing recognition that wildlife tourism can support conservation when it is properly managed. It also acknowledges a practical reality: cruising sailors spend longer in remote anchorages, travel independently and often encounter wildlife far from organised tours.

The principles are straightforward and by now, most boaters who have got this far should be well versed in them, but a refresh and reminder never hurts.

• Slow down when wildlife is nearby.

• Allow animals to choose whether to approach.

• Do not cut across their path or pursue them.

• Never feed or touch wild animals.

• If your presence changes an animal's behaviour, it is time to move away.

Sea turtles are a particular focus of the national guidance in Vanuatu because several threatened species occur in their waters and guidance covers interactions from boats, as well as while snorkelling, diving and visiting nesting beaches. The aim is not to discourage encounters, but to make respectful behaviour the norm.

Read the Guidelines for Interacting with Sea Turtles in Vanuatu here

A companion Code of Conduct for Tourism Operators Interacting with Sea Turtles also provides useful guidance for anyone observing turtles - including diving, snorkelling, kayaking, boating, using stand up paddleboards, jet skis, walking on nesting beaches etc.

Read the Code of Conduct for Tourism Operators Interacting with Sea Turtles here

For sailors continuing beyond Vanuatu, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has also produced Responsible Marine Wildlife Viewing Guidelines covering whales, dolphins, dugongs, sharks, rays and seabirds across the Pacific. We wrote an earlier post about this and highly recommend reviewing the guidance in full. Afterall, the Pacific islands region covers 32 million km2 within the largest continuous marine habitat on the planet!

While researching these resources, we also discovered the work of the Vanuatu Environmental Science Society (VESS), also known as Vanuatu Conservation. Founded in 2014, the organisation works with communities, researchers and government agencies to strengthen conservation science across the country. Its projects span sea turtles, dugongs, biodiversity surveys and environmental education. Each year there is a sea slug census and citizen science project - we're trying to get more details about that and will add it to the Citizen Science Directory once we do!

In the meantime, as part of our visit, we're looking forward to meeting fellow cruisers, local communities and conservation organisations, and to learning more about the projects already underway. We'll also be sharing any citizen science opportunities we discover so other sailors can get involved.

One thing this research reinforced is that cruising sailors have an opportunity few others do. We spend time in places that scientists cannot monitor every day. A turtle sighting, manta ray photograph or whale observation can become more than a memorable moment—it can contribute to our understanding of the species that share these waters.

If you're sailing in Vanuatu this season and are involved in marine research, conservation or citizen science, we'd love to hear from you.

Likewise, if you're a fellow cruiser with an interest in contributing to ocean science, we'd be delighted to connect while we're in the islands.

Good seamanship has always been about leaving no trace. Around wildlife, perhaps the best measure of success is even simpler: the animal carries on exactly as it was before you arrived.