The number of whale and dolphin watchers in eastern Taiwan's Hualien City is estimated to drop 20 percent to 30 percent compared to last year, a phenomenon that the workers in the industry are attributing to the economic downturn. Groups of visitors used to flood into Hualien in summer for cetacean-watching tours, except in bad weather conditions such as typhoons, a worker in the whale- watching business said. But while the number of visitors increased year-on-year in early July, it did not increase after mid-July, even though that is traditionally the busiest period and tourism figures in previous years had gone up around this time. The industry is worried about the lost in business for the whole year, with industry workers complaining that the economic slump has dissuaded people from visiting. The worker interviewed further pointed out that the number of whales and dolphins observed this year has also dropped. He blamed the fewer chances to see whales and dolphins on the damage to the ecological environment. Whale- and dolphin-watching tours have been operated for 13 years in Hualien and have brought in 120,000 visitors to the area each year. 