Whale and Boat collide thread

I've seen inconsiderate (oblivious) behavior by boaters of all types and models. It really hurts my heart when it is a C-Dory running up too close and too fast on the whales.

The comment timeframe has elapsed, but NOAA hasn't yet made a ruling about a "no boat zone" on the west side of San Juan Island. One has to assume that anything you are doing out there may be being videoed.
 
Looks like the Bayliner was totally un-aware of where the whale was, and regulations involving whale watching. Hopefully the whale is not injured.
 
I agree with the previous comments. But I think it's also wrong to blame every boater for being too close. A few years back we had the opportunity to take our boat and enjoy the San Juan Islands. And we were also very fortunate to see several pods of whales. As someone not familiar with the area, I elected to stay behind, and what I thought was to the outside of what appeared to be some whale watching or research boats, when we came up on some of the whales. (Even hailed one on my radio to let him know my intentions.) None the less, at one point I remember "painting" several very large fish below my boat on my chart plotter / sonar. By this time I had fallen quite a ways back from the "commercial" boats. Being prudent to the many postings in the area, I went into idle for a bit, then reengaged the prop and turned further out at a very slow speed. At this time I had one of the "whale protection" boats come up and politely remind me of the rules regarding distance on the whales. Not sure where they came from, but sometimes we all need to remember that animals aren't restricted to a certain area of water, and they can turn just as easily placing boats in that "restricted" zone.
Not condoling what the Bayliner did. But a short video clip may not give the whole story. Still not wise to run full out around other boats though!
 
Yeah, I was driving one of those whale watch boats that day, Colby. I guess we recall the incident differently. And, for full disclosure, I did visit with you about distances and speeds around the whales the day before that.

Here's another tip for those who boat around the Orcas: they navigate and find their food source via echo location. The eco-minded operators turn their depth finders off in the vicinity of the whales, so it doesn't interfere with their return signals.

Keep your speeds to 7 knots or less when within a half mile of the whales. All the distance regulations are posted in marinas in the Salish Sea, in Waggoner's, and all over the internet. But, NOAA doesn't take kindly to boaters who run up behind the whales, or speed to get in front of them intentionally. Some are lucky to get off with a warning, but with the current "no boat zone" regulations being considered, I would expect NOAA to be even more vigilant this summer.

I totally get that the whales are wild animals and can pop up anywhere - even more reason to be especially cautious when in an area where whales are. If you aren't sure where the whales are located when there are commercial whale watch boats in the area, here's a tip: use your binoculars to see which side of the boat the guests on the boat are looking. Don't go closer than the commercial boats - many are using range-finders to stay legal. When you're ready to leave the area, remember that half mile distance regulation and keep your speed to 7 knots or less until you are further away.

The distance regulations in the PNW are different for the Orcas vs the humpbacks, grays, and minkes. They are all amazing to see. Seeing them from your own boat is a special treat. There are only 78 members of the Southern Resident Killer Whales left. The outlook is not good. I would hope boaters wouldn't be part of their plight.

Apologies if I came across as angry in this post. Watching the video in the OP, and having seen so much of the deliberate (and uncalled for) bad behavior around the whales is hard to take without saying something. "Ignorance" is not a legit excuse.

I'll go back to my corner now.
 
Stuff happens.

Not knowing the details, it's easy to make judgements. This is not the wisest
approach.

I've encountered the goliaths several times. Some seem unaware of your presence
while others seem curious and come close unaware of the potential danger for
both travelers. Some boat operators should not be out there to begin with.

Always keep vigilant at sea and ashore. Most boats are intended to encounter
little else except water.

Aye.
 
Jim, no problem with your post. And your advice and experience as discussed earlier was very much on my mind when I went out. I appreciated that advice. But still almost got in trouble even with all that good info. Moral of story, stuff can still happen. The depth finder information is new to me. Not sure I agree with turning it off. I guess damned if you do, damned if you don't. Like the Manatees in South Florida, the Whales are beautiful creatures to see. Thus why so many both private and commercial boats are out there looking at them. I think we both know, both types of vessels have infringed upon animals in their natural habitats. And not necessarily on purpose. There will always be those that purposely ignore the laws, and others that carelessly fail to understand them. But there will also be those that even with the best intentions find themselves in that zone where they shouldn't be. Thus, I suspect why the slow speed regulations. (We were well under the 7 kts, in fact we were mostly at idle speed at the time watching the whales from what we thought was a safe distance... at least farther offshore and away from the whales than the earlier whale watching boat we had came up on and followed before he left to go look at another pod...) Colby
 
JamesTXSD":2bac52ek said:
... There are only 78 members of the Southern Resident Killer Whales left. The outlook is not good. ...
Click to expand...

Not to make light of the situation, but when I last lived in the area (about 20 years ago) there were about 75-80 members of the Southern Resident Orca pods. At the time the researchers said that they were endangered and would likely disappear. It seems to me that the population is fairly stable. Granted Orcas normally have long lives and any population trends may take a long to become apparent.
 
ssobol":2bm3gbg9 said:
JamesTXSD":2bm3gbg9 said:
... There are only 78 members of the Southern Resident Killer Whales left. The outlook is not good. ...
Click to expand...

Not to make light of the situation, but when I last lived in the area (about 20 years ago) there were about 75-80 members of the Southern Resident Orca pods. At the time the researchers said that they were endangered and would likely disappear. It seems to me that the population is fairly stable. Granted Orcas normally have long lives and any population trends may take a long to become apparent.
Click to expand...

I don't proclaim to be an expert, but I have learned a lot while working in the whale watch business that last 5 years... with trained naturalists and marine biologists onboard the boats.

Last year, the SRKW population was 84. This year, it currently stands at 78. The research is better and more defined than it was 20 years ago. The biggest immediate issue the SRKW population faces is the decline of their food source: chinook salmon (95% of their diet). Estimates last season put the salmon runs at 7% of normal. The discussion of what to do about the salmon can deteriorate into an argument quickly - I am not offering a solution here, just explaining the situation as shown by the research.

Orcas are similar to humans for reproduction age and duration (well, except for a 17 month gestation period) - there are fewer animals in the prime breeding age.

Calf mortality is around 50% for survival at one year. The reason for this: the SRKW population is some of the most toxic of mammals. The likely source of the toxins in their bodies is from PCBs, fertilizer run-off, and other toxins in the water. The females are able to expel some toxins by giving birth - yeah, they pass it on to their calves. Meaning the babies are at a health disadvantage right off the bat. The males have no way to expel toxins - which probably relates to their lifespan being shorter than females.

There has been a great deal of research trying to determine the impact of boats (and, their noise and exhaust) around the whales. Nothing definitive, but I can give my first-hand experiences. The Orcas seem indifferent to boats, as long as proximity and noise isn't an issue. When boats encroach on their space, they do tend to make avoiding maneuvers.

Other observations: the transient Orcas (aka Biggs Orcas) in the PNW are not stressed due to food source - there is no shortage of harbor seals and harbor porpoise. Their numbers are not declining. Like the Residents, they seem indifferent to passing boats. They spend less time in the "more populated" areas, so less exposure to toxins.

I have previously mentioned here the NOAA proposed "No Boat Zone" - this has nothing to do with the 200/400 yard distance that boats are required to keep between themselves and the whales; rather, the proposal is to make the west side of San Juan Island a "No Boat Zone." In reality, the SRKWs are in that area somewhere around 3 to 5% of the time they are in the Salish Sea. So, for the other 95 to 97% of the time, this "zone" would have no impact. Other than to restrict boats from passing through that area. Or, fishing. (the west side of San Juan Island is a popular fishing area) No provision is made for the fact that this area is a major shipping lane, as well.

The next step would likely be an expanded distance restriction from whales. Either this or the proposed "No Boat Zone" will have a major effect on tourism in Washington State and Canada. Whale watching is a a big part of the economy in that area, which also brings visitors to lodging and restaurants.

My gut feeling: boats are not an impact. Especially, if they follow the current regulations regarding distance and speed. Boaters who run up on the whales, speed in and out from viewing, and are indifferent to the federal and state regulations are an impact. The fact that the Transients are doing well while the Residents are threatened is due to the lack of food and toxins.

A lot has changed in 20 years. Researchers can been seen most days on "poop watch" - operating under a special license that allows them to get close to the whales to pick up scat. By studying this, they can tell who (DNA) and the general health/diet of the animal. You may see a dog on board their boat, trained to react when it detecst the scat.

The public is more aware of the plight of the Residents, due to the media, the showing of the docu-movie "Blackfish," and what they learn on the whale watch boats who employ biology professionals. The eco-minded whale watch operators follow the regulations. Granted, there are yahoos in that group, but they are generally weeded out thanks to participation by the professional whale watch organization.

I think the situation for J, K, and L Pods is more dire than it was 20 years ago, and not any kind of scare tactic. I truly hope these magnificent mammals will be around for generations to come.
 
We love these animals to death in Washington. We slept at anchor a night in mid march in Elger bay, on the west side of Camano island. When we woke up at first light a pod of orcas was there playing around our boat. it was an amazing experience for our daughter to see. We kept the boat turned off and enjoyed them as they headed south out of the bay and towards Everett on the east side of Saratoga passage. Next thing you know there's radio chatter on channel 68, and so many private boats descending on this pod of orcas, plus a charter coming up out of everett. None of these people aside from the charter kept their distance. We stayed where we were but watched this large gang of boats slowly follow the orcas every move. It made me sick.

We always felt blessed when we saw whales, put the engines in neutral for a bit so we didn't injure them but would continue doing whatever we were doing after the whales passed. Not spending the rest of the day following the whales around like we're the paparazzi tracking some famous celebrity. that's just bad behavior.
 
We have the same problem down south (Florida) with manatees and not very attentive boaters. Most if not all manatees have large scars from boat impacts. Sad.
 
So i just watched the video and its a sad thing for the whale to get hit. I live and boat in the everett area where this happened and have seen the gray whales ( this was a gray not a orca) many times . In fact the first whale I ever saw was a gray in this area. I doubt that the boater even saw the whale in time. As big as they are they are hard to spot. In this area they are feeding on shrimp. They dive for a long time and then pop up any where very fast. Many times while trolling, on anchor or just drifting the first sign at all of a whale is him surfacing right next to the boat. When they dive here they might not pop up with in a mile or two of where they went down.

Unlike the fleet that follows the Orcas around there is one or maybe two whale boats working the winter in the everret area and the clipper is not a obvious whale watching boat . Most of the "watcher' are in side where its warm. I mean who wants to hit a whale really? could it be avoided? maybe. somethings can't. Few summer ago susan and I where in the SJ's headed back to FH. It was late in the day and the whale boats where not were to be found. I had not seen one all day. We had been fishing up north and were not even thinking about whales. At 25 mph 2 miles from any shore and any boat a orca, Riffles, ( which just happened to be the very first one we have seen in 2003. We have seen him many times over the years, hes gone now) Riffles pops up right next to the boat going 25 knots. I slammed the throttle back to idle and dam near dropped susan on the floor with the sudden stop. I have to agree with Jim , they just dont really care about your boat . I have seen to many come way out of their way to check us out or riding the bow wake of a large cargo ship to think they are afraid of boats. I dont think they are much bothered by the sonar either. They take fish off your line while ( not mine) you are trolling in a fleet of boats.

As for the ill conceived NO GO ZONE. this is the second or third time this has been tried and I hope it fails as it should. Their is another proposal by the same group to restrict all whale watching to " shore base only" That will be phase two. That group does not even think kayaks should be allowed. Just more rules for the sake of rules.
 
So i just watched the video and its a sad thing for the whale to get hit. I live and boat in the everett area where this happened and have seen the gray whales ( this was a gray not a orca) many times . In fact the first whale I ever saw was a gray in this area. I doubt that the boater even saw the whale in time. As big as they are they are hard to spot. In this area they are feeding on shrimp. They dive for a long time and then pop up any where very fast. Many times while trolling, on anchor or just drifting the first sign at all of a whale is him surfacing right next to the boat. When they dive here they might not pop up with in a mile or two of where they went down.

Unlike the fleet that follows the Orcas around there is one or maybe two whale boats working the winter in the everret area and the clipper is not a obvious whale watching boat . Most of the "watcher' are in side where its warm. I mean who wants to hit a whale really? could it be avoided? maybe. somethings can't. Few summer ago susan and I where in the SJ's headed back to FH. It was late in the day and the whale boats where not were to be found. I had not seen one all day. We had been fishing up north and were not even thinking about whales. At 25 mph 2 miles from any shore and any boat a orca, Riffles, ( which just happened to be the very first one we have seen in 2003. We have seen him many times over the years, hes gone now) Riffles pops up right next to the boat going 25 knots. I slammed the throttle back to idle and dam near dropped susan on the floor with the sudden stop. I have to agree with Jim , they just dont really care about your boat . I have seen to many come way out of their way to check us out or riding the bow wake of a large cargo ship to think they are afraid of boats. I dont think they are much bothered by the sonar either. They take fish off your line while ( not mine) you are trolling in a fleet of boats.

As for the ill conceived NO GO ZONE. this is the second or third time this has been tried and I hope it fails as it should. Their is another proposal by the same group to restrict all whale watching to " shore base only" That will be phase two. That group does not even think kayaks should be allowed. Just more rules for the sake of rules.
 
Glad you shared your story Tom, I was too embarrassed to admit that on our last whale watching trip last month, something similar happened to us. We cruised down to find some Greys by tracking the whale watching boats on AIS and joined up with them for a bit, but from quite a distance because I'm extra cautious with all the regulations now. We got our share of watching in (they aren't all that exciting as they don't surface that often and when they do it's really quick), then went to Langley for a pitstop. After that, we cruised back North to LaConner.

Up around Baby Island at the North end of Holmes Harbor I was doing about 6 knots and a gray surfaced about 20 feet directly in front of me and I damn near hit it! There were no other boats around, whale watching or otherwise, so we weren't even looking for whales, and like you, I slammed the throttle into neutral as fast as I could. It was a neat experience to see the whales without all the commercial watching boats around, but I can totally see how someone could hit one (although in this case maybe the whale watching boats should have been a sign to slow down, who knows though).

-Mike
 
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