ABSTRACT Contact with nature and experiences with nonhuman animals have been shown to contribute to nature connection and human wellbeing, both of which are innate needs according to the biophilia hypothesis. This study explores what marine mammal encounters mean to people and how they affect connection to and understanding of nature. It was hypothesized that individuals who had wild random vs ecotour vs captive marine mammal experiences would report differing degrees of meaning and nature-connectedness. The paper draws on responses to three survey questions, two quantitative and one qualitative, by 625 predominantly Australian participants. Significant differences were found between the three types of marine mammal experiences on subjective meaning, with highest levels in the wild random, then ecotour, then captive experience. Similarly, participants with wild experiences were more likely to report that the experience had influenced their nature connection than those who had captive mammal experiences. The five themes of Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment that make up Seligman’s PERMA wellbeing model were used to inform thematic template analyses of the short answer responses and highlighted the relationship between wellbeing and connection to nature. Importantly, the addition of Perspective as a sixth theme captured the expressed changes in participants’ points of view and attitudes, including humans’ place in the world and their impacts. Collectively the results point to how, through nature-connectedness and wellbeing, marine mammal experiences can contribute to an ecocentric view and humans can realize their effects on nature and wildlife. A model is proposed for understanding how marine mammal experiences can facilitate the quest for human wellbeing and meaning.

中文翻译：

---

从人类福祉到以生态为中心的观点：自然联系如何扩展海洋野生动物体验的好处

摘要 与自然的接触和与非人类动物的体验已被证明有助于自然联系和人类福祉，根据亲生物假说，这两者都是与生俱来的需求。这项研究探讨了海洋哺乳动物遭遇对人类的意义以及它们如何影响与自然的联系和理解。假设有野生随机、生态旅游和圈养海洋哺乳动物经历的个体会报告不同程度的意义和自然联系。该论文借鉴了 625 名主要是澳大利亚的参与者对三个调查问题的回答，两个定量问题和一个定性问题。三种海洋哺乳动物体验在主观意义上存在显着差异，其中野生随机、生态旅游和圈养体验的水平最高。相似地，与有圈养哺乳动物经历的人相比，有野外经历的参与者更有可能报告说，这种经历影响了他们的自然联系。构成塞利格曼 PERMA 幸福感模型的积极情绪、参与、关系、意义和成就这五个主题被用于为简短回答响应的主题模板分析提供信息，并强调幸福感与与自然的联系之间的关系。重要的是，将视角作为第六个主题的添加捕捉了参与者观点和态度的表达变化，包括人类在世界上的位置及其影响。总的来说，结果表明，通过与自然的联系和福祉，海洋哺乳动物的体验如何有助于以生态为中心的观点，人类可以意识到它们对自然和野生动物的影响。