Tour companies are preparing to phase out trips involving swimming with whale and dolphin calves in a drive to crack down on disturbance to the ocean creatures by humans.

Using selfie sticks in the water alongside whales or dolphins will be strongly discouraged, and swimmers will be told to limit their time with the mammals to half an hour.

Under new guidelines, issued by the World Cetacean Alliance, holidaymakers will also be asked to limit the size of their groups, hold on to surface ropes and observe distance restrictions, not getting too close to the mammals.

Alliance campaigners want to curb the “invasive” impact of the multi-million-pound industry of whale and dolphin experiences including boat tours and swimming alongside the creatures.

They are calling on tour operators worldwide, firms that belong to Abta, tourism associations and commercial whale-watching operators to observe its strict new guidelines to help protect marine life.

For swimmers, the new rules mean:

A maximum of four people swimming with whales, and a maximum of eight swimming with dolphins

Swimmers must hold on to a surface rope while with a whale or dolphin

No selfie sticks during encounters

No swimming with whale calves or nursery groups of dolphins

Swimming with wild whales and dolphins is arguably a more invasive form of tourism than observing from boats, the alliance says, because entering the water can disturb and interrupt the animals’ natural behaviour.

Human interference in the seas can compromise welfare, risk the lives of young and potentially even cause population numbers to fall, the campaigners believe.

Dolphin-watching, a multi-million-pound industry, will face curbs (Auckland Whale and Dolphin Safari / WCA)

For watchers on board boats, the new guidance suggests there should be no more than three vessels within 300m of a whale or dolphin at any one time, and that lone whale calves should not be approached closer than that distance. Encounters should be limited to 30 minutes, it suggests.

Experts at the World Cetacean Alliance, who have spent 18 months consulting whale-watching firms and marine life experts, said they were confident the tour companies involved would follow the guidelines and urged other businesses to follow suit.

Scientists have revealed through various studies that pressure from swimmers getting close to whales can harm the survival of their young, the campaigners claimed.

Calves are particularly vulnerable to disturbance, and tourists getting close to mother and calf pairs can reduce resting and nursing times, increase the risk of predation by separating mothers and calves, and use up the creatures’ vital energy reserves as they try to avoid swimmers and boats.

The alliance says evidence is increasing that interacting with dolphins and whales “has a negative effect on the very animals that people love to see”, arguing the guidelines “will ensure that future whale and dolphin watching trips offer an incredible experience for tourists whilst actively helping to protect whales, dolphins and our oceans through marine conservation initiatives, community education projects, and research”.

Awareness of the need for wild animals to live as close to nature as possible has gradually spread worldwide, with campaigns to boycott SeaWorld taking off.

The alliance, a partnership of conservation charities, scientists and tour firms, says although the guidelines balance the protection of cetaceans with the practicalities of running tour businesses, this is the first time anyone has drawn a line at swimming with baby whales.

Dolphin-watching, a multi-million-pound industry, will face curbs (Auckland Whale and Dolphin Safari / WCA)

Demand for swimming with whales in the wild has accelerated in recent years, thanks in part to natural-history documentaries, creating a boom in “swim-with” and snorkelling tours in tropical waters where whales and dolphins nurse their calves.

The industry is now believed to be worth £1.6bn a year.

Humpback whales live for 50 years or more and travel further than the circumference of the Earth, but calves must first rest, suckle and learn from their mothers for six months, without being disturbed by people in the sea, according to the experts.

Dylan Walker, head of the alliance, said: “We talked to a lot of stakeholders around the world and felt that there was increasing concern for whale calves in particular.

“Sperm whales, for example, often leave their calves alone at the surface to dive deep for food, returning to the surface for only short periods. This means the calves are vulnerable while alone, but they must also maximise the brief time available when their mothers return to them.

“So the disturbance likely during ‘swim-with’ encounters represents too high a risk to the animals.”

He added: “Rather than closing the door to these activities, we have created a comprehensive set of best-practice guidelines to ensure any impacts are minimised. These include some key lessons learnt from best practice whale- and dolphin-watching businesses from across the WCA partnership.”

Where not to visit if you love animals Show all 9 1 /9 Where not to visit if you love animals Where not to visit if you love animals Monkey shows Chimpanzees are forced to perform demeaning tricks on leashes and are often subject to cruel training techniques. Animals who are confined to small, barren enclosures and forced to perform unsurprisingly show symptoms of stress and depression. Chimpanzees have been documented rocking back and forth, sucking their lips, salivating and swaying against enclosure perimeters in distress. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Marine parks Some parks confine orcas to concrete tanks and force them to perform meaningless tricks for food - many die in captivity. Orcas are highly intelligent and social mammals who may suffer immensely, both physically and mentally, when they're held in captivity. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Tiger shows Tigers are forced to live in an unnatural and barren environment and have to endure interactions with a constant stream of tourists. Since tigers never lose their wild instincts, across the world they are reportedly drugged, mutilated and restrained in order to make them “safe” for the public. However, every year, incidents of tiger maulings are reported at this type of tourist attraction. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Donkey rides Sunning on the beach is great for humans – we can take a quick dip or catch a bite to eat when we get too hot or hungry. But it's pure hell for donkeys who are confined to the beach and forced to cart children around on the hot sand. Some donkey-ride operators at beach resorts in the UK even keep the animals chained together at all times. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Swimming with dolphins Some marine parks use bottlenose dolphins in performances and offer visitors the opportunity to swim with dolphins. Unfortunately, people are often unaware that these animals are captured in the wild and torn from their families or traded between different parks around the world. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Canned hunting Lions are confined to fenced areas so that they can easily be cornered, with no chance of escape. Most of them will have been bred in captivity and then taken from their mothers to be hand-reared by the cub-petting industry. When they get too big, they may be drugged before they are released into a "hunting" enclosure. Because these animals are usually kept in fenced enclosures (ranging in size from just a few square yards to thousands of acres), they never stand a chance of surviving. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Running of the Bulls Every year, tourists travel to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls. The bulls who are forced to slip and slide down the town's narrow cobblestone streets are chased straight into the bullring. They are then taunted, stabbed repeatedly and finally killed by the matador in front of a jeering crowd. The majority of Spaniards reject bullfighting, but tourists are keeping the cruel industry on its last legs. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Horse-drawn carriages City streets are no place for horses. The animals toil in all weather extremes, suffering from respiratory distress from breathing in exhaust fumes as well as numerous hoof, leg and back problems from walking on pavement all day long. As easily spooked prey animals, horses subjected to the loud noises and unexpected sounds of city streets are likely to be involved in accidents, even deadly ones. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Zoos The zoo community regards the animals it keeps as commodities, and animals are regularly bought, sold, borrowed and traded without any regard for established relationships. Zoos breed animals because the presence of babies draws visitors and boosts revenue, yet often, there's nowhere to put the offspring as they grow, and they are killed, as we saw with Marius the giraffe in Denmark. Some zoos have introduced evening events with loud music and alcohol which disrupt the incarcerated animals even further. EPA

Sophie Lewis, author of the guidelines, said: “The decision to exclude swim-with baby whales from the guidelines wasn’t taken lightly and the collaboration towards this decision was made with both tour operators and researchers alike.”