Cetacean Performance and Tourism in Kaikoura, New Zealand

Abstract

In this paper we use research into ecotouristic activities in Kaikoura, New Zealand, to discuss how the nonhuman agency of nature is implicated in the performance and meaning of place. Kaikoura has recently boomed as an ecotourist destination, and its changing nature has been coconstituted by the networked agency of whales and dolphins, whose charismatic animal appeal is a magnet for tourists. We discuss the power of representation to conjure up anticipatory ideas about place practices, the influence of mediating and staging tourist performances, and the importance of unconsidered habits and practices in prompting distinctive performances in particular places. Some tourists leave Kaikoura disappointed because the unpredictability of nature can disrupt anticipated experience. Others, however, in partaking in whale watching and swimming with dolphins, are presented with both educational experience and opportunities for relationally achieved connections with cetaceans which can result in intense experiences of immanence and unreflexive glee. This research poses significant questions about the ability of actor networks and relational assemblages to capture fully the power of the nonhuman to evoke sublime emotional and aesthetic relations with humans.