Ecotourist attractions may be greenwashing.

• Position: Eye on Ecology

In recent years, ecotourism has become a hot buzzword for environmentally minded travelers, but the World Society for the Protection of Animals, New York, advises tourists to research visitor attractions to ensure they are operating responsibly, keeping in mind the welfare of animals and the environment, and to avoid those that simply are greenwashing.

Elizabeth Hogan, Oceans and Wildlife Campaigns manager at WSPA, has put together a list of five tips that can help individuals identify when an ecotourist attraction is not as animal or environmentally friendly as it claims:

Avoid direct interaction with the animals. As a general rule, you should not be touching animals at an ecotourist attraction. Whether it is swimming with dolphins or holding sea turtles, this kind of contact with hundreds or thousands of tourists can traumatize the very animals being protected and compromise their health--and yours--sometimes in serious ways.

If there is a high entertainment to science ratio, stay away. Ecotourist attractions must balance science and entertainment. If the attraction you are considering has too much entertainment, such as snorkeling with sea turtles in small artificial ponds, it may not be paying enough attention to the welfare of the animals it supposedly is protecting and the science of conservation.

Do not eat any of the animals supposedly being protected. Done properly, there is nothing wrong with animal farming, but it is a very different thing than conservation. Any ecotourist attraction that...