School of Geography - Theses
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ItemIf Descartes swam with dolphins: the framing and consumption of marine animals in contemporary Australian tourism( 2000)Cultural geography has become increasingly interested in the ways in which nature is socially constructed within society as other. In more closely examining the broad category of 'nature', the field of animal geography has come about in an attempt to rethink the place of animals in society. The Cartesian culture/nature binary is seen to be one reason for the mistreatment of animals in society. The thesis investigates to what extent the binary is challenged or reinforced through the act of visiting animals within an ecotourism context. To this end the thesis looks at the ways in which marine animals are produced for and consumed by the tourism industry in Australia. Set within a backdrop of the early collection and display of marine animals as a form of imperial expansion, the thesis travels across a spectrum of marine animal tourism experience, from a point of extreme mediation to one of minimum mediation. In investigating the ways in which marine animals are framed and toured in contemporary Australia, the thesis utilises two key case studies, the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island in Victoria, Australia and Wild Dolphin Tours in Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, Australia. At the same time, the case studies act to uncover a key question of the thesis, namely the reasons why people choose to visit marine animals in Australia. Initially the thesis investigates the display of marine animals in early aquaria, modem day theme parks and in Blue Zoos. In then moving on to the first case study, the thesis considers the ways in which penguins are framed as a novelty event, as a threatened animal and as a link 'to the wild' for tourists. Data collection through a visitor survey and participant observation showed that tourists visit the birds as part of a more general family/friends holiday experience. The second case study begins with an examination of the ways in which dolphins are framed through popular culture as at once human like and as better than humans. A visitor survey and participant observation undertaken with tourists who went to sightsee and swim with the bottlenose dolphins of Port Phillip Bay revealed that visitors primarily chose to visit these animals because of a desire to see them unconfined and to learn about them. The thesis found that marine animals are framed for tourism in Australia in a multitude of ways which simultaneously bring the animals closer to humans and set them apart. Environmental education differed between the case studies. Generally tourists felt they learnt about the animals through a combination of seeing them first hand and experiencing some form of interpretation. Overall the culture/nature binary was found to be actively supported but also challenged by the practice of ecomarine tourism examined in the thesis.