I get to see a lot of stupid stuff on the water; the full moon was a couple days ago, but the crazies were out today.
My morning started off mellow - little Izzy in the pretty morning light...
I try to get in to work early most days; if something needs to be addressed, I have the time... if not, I get more planning time. Going through all my checks this morning, I found the forward bilge pump was not working. One of the dock hands went to the marine shop to get me another bilge pump while I finished the rest of my prep work. I got the pump in about 10 minutes before we were ready to board guests. It works.
I had one whale report, no numbers, no direction. During the safety talk, guests always let me know they want to see whales. "On a whale watch trip?? Hey, that's a good idea!" ;-) We threaded our way though the dinghies, anchored boats, and floats for the crab pots, and headed out Mosquito Pass... the whale report put them on the southwest side of San Juan Island; I was able to get more info once we were out of the harbor... "8 whales moving up-island." That is a good situation for us: not too far away, and moving closer.
Outside of the pass, and into Haro Strait...
A bit hazy/smokey as we came into open water. I saw one of the Vancouver (BC) whale watch boats moving fast the other direction. I asked him how far back he left the whales... "There is another big group moving fast down-island; probably going to meet up with the ones moving up-island. Your timing is perfect! Wish we could stick around, but we have to get back."
Nice, we are going to see a lot of whales today!
As we first came on scene, I could see a lot of boats south of us... and a nice group of whales that had no boats around them...
Well, there were some people in kayaks who were getting an up-close-and-personal view. We had this group of a dozen or so whales to ourselves for a few minutes... then, private boats started showing up, moving in WAY too close to the whales...
In four years, I have never seen such blatant disregard for the distance laws. Of course, these people will plead "ignorance"... with all the information about the distance to maintain, AND the fact that they blew right by the commercial operators to get closer, they should be pleading "stupid."
This disregard for the whales did not go unnoticed by enforcement...
One particularly stupid boater (in a blue trawler named Heron) pulled right in front of us FOUR TIMES. I could believe once was an accident... but getting right in our sight line and stopping repeatedly. I finally got out an air horn and blasted it in their direction - the guy finally moved out of the way. It isn't like he didn't know we were there - pretty sure he was using us to find the best position, then "poaching" right between us and the whales. Yeah, that probably wasn't stupid, more like completely inconsiderate. I have another word for him, as well.
Looking off to the south, I saw more boats than I have seen any other day this season...
If you look close at that photo above, all those little dots in the background are boats. Some of the private boats had fishing lines in the water, not tending those lines, as they moved closer and closer to the whales. A pleasure boat with lines in the water is NOT a fishing vessel (in spite of what those folks think). Oh, there were several true fishing vessels (purse seiners) out there, too - running through the middle of all this.
I get it: it's a beautiful Sunday; the weather is about perfect, light wind, nearly calm water, and the whales... our naturalist determined that J, K, and L Pods were all represented here! We estimated over 40 whales that we were able to view.
Yes, in spite of the traffic jam of boats, we managed to stay mostly away from the worst of the crowds and get some great views...
The whales were active and spread out, covering the waters between Eagle Point and False Bay, mostly close to the shore. With the mass of boats out there, I was overly careful to stay away from the ones who were paying absolutely no attention whatsoever (and there were plenty of those) and still keep the legal distance from the whales. We also make it a point to not block anyone's view. This is the first time this season that we had other commercial whale watch boats cut right in front of us, as well. Having a crowd out there doesn't have to mean that courtesy takes the day off.
Keeping the proper distance is no easy task, as the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife boat (law enforcement) can probably attest to...
Yes, that splash of water behind them was a whale about 30 feet from their boat. No, we did not move in and make a citizen's arrest. ;-)
With careful positioning, we were able to have our engine shut down a good portion of the time we were with the whales... my favorite way to view. They were feeding in the area, and not moving fast any particular direction.
We had a lot of very happy guests on our boat. Happy crew, too. Our naturalist Rachel came up to the helm and said, "You are getting a real workout today."
Yep.
3 comments:
Hi Jim.. I enjoy your Blog-- Thanks for sharing..
What is the Legal Distance from a Whale?
Do you have a theory as to why Whales breach?
What is the fine for being to close to a Whale?
Hi HRB. The distances in US waters are 200 yards laterally, 400 yards in front or behind their direction of travel. In addition to that, there are speed restrictions, and restrictions in certain areas for how close to shore we can be. There are posters with this information posted in all the marinas in the Salish Sea. The local boating magazines have all run articles with this information. In fact, I wrote a sidebar for Waggoners Cruising Guide for this area - it is, by far, the most popular cruising guide for Puget Sound and the Salish Sea. The information is definitely out there.
When you see all the commercial boats maintaining a particular distance, how can any moderately intelligent person think THEY are allowed to get closer than that? These Orcas are some of the most protected in this country - there are only 81 of them in the Southern Resident Killer Whale population. The laws are in place so as not to stress the Orcas. Part of what we do is getting people to the whales; we also educate and inform. I like this company because of the commitment to respectful wildlife viewing and giving guests the opportunity to see the wildlife in their environment. Along the way, they also learn about the animals and the area.
The fines are determined by the egregiousness of the incident. Starting at $1,500 and going up from there. Sometimes WDFW/NOAA will give a warning, other times it will be a ticket and fine.
It is sad to see the disregard that some people have. It seemed to be a "mob mentality" with some of the boaters out there today... "He's doing it, so I'm going to, too!" Doesn't make it acceptable.
As to why whales breach... our naturalists (marine biologists) relate theories from communication to helping keep pests off of them. I think it is their "Happy Dance!" Full bellies and surrounded by their families!
The Orcas are very intelligent animals. VERY family oriented. They communicate, they are curious, they work together to hunt... large brains. We know they experience grief with the lost of a family member. There are unique personalities. Truly, it is a treat to see these animals on a daily basis, and something I don't take for granted.
They are large animals - that 200 yard distance isn't a problem; you can still see them, experience their behavior and hear the sounds they make.
I can't imagine seeing these animals in their natural environment and not being moved by the experience.
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