Some whale watchers ‘routinely’ are too close to endangered resident killer whales, report says

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Environmental groups have issued a scathing review of some whale watchers and Transport Canada’s lack of enforcement to protect endangered southern resident killer whales.

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The groups say some whale-watching companies and recreational fishermen in the Salish Sea are “routinely” violating a 400-meter buffer zone and are sometimes “chasing” orcas in US waters.

The David Suzuki Foundation, the Georgia Straits Alliance, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Raincoast Conservation Foundation and WWF Canada are calling for increased enforcement, prosecutions and sanctions to deter the “wrongdoing of the few” in the whale watching and recreational fishing industries.

The remaining 73 southern resident killer whales in pods J, K and L are struggling to survive after the deaths this summer of K-21 and L-47.

Straitwatch, a Victoria-based marine mammal and vessel behavior program, said that during 12 of the 24 days of whale monitoring in the summer of 2020, Canadian whale-watching operators were observed 84 times out of 400. meters of the killer whales resident in the south.

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In almost a third of these cases, the operators came within 100 to 200 meters of the killer whales. During the same season, 51 recreational fishing boats were observed within 400 meters of residents of the south, and 28 of them within 200 meters.

Paul Pudwell, who operates Sooke Whale Watching, said that all members of the Pacific Whale Watch Association in the Canadian Salish Sea have signed agreements with the federal government to stay away from southern residents in exchange for a 200-meter buffer for observe transient killer whales.

Penalties for not doing so range up to $ 1 million, he said.

“We avoid [southern residents] like the plague, ”said Pudwell. “On the two occasions that I have met [southern residents] This summer, I put it on the radio and they all left the area. “

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Pudwell said renowned whale watchers “know the stakes” with residents of the south. “We love these whales and we are not going to risk a $ 1 million fine,” he said.

“We have seen hundreds of passersby and thousands of humpback whales … we don’t have to look [southern residents], but we inform our guests about them for educational purposes. “

Erin Gless, executive director of the Pacific Whale Watching Association based in Friday Harbor, Wash., Said it may take members some time to photograph and identify the whales. “Once they figure it out, I can assure you that they will respond by leaving the scene,” he said.

The association has 29 member companies, about half of them based in Canada, which host more than 500,000 guests a year.

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The distancing rules in US waters for vessels and killer whales resident in the south are lower than in Canada at 300 yards or 275 meters.

Gless agreed with the call for further enforcement, but said that of the 84 incidents in 2020, only five distancing violations occurred in Canada. The other 79 were in US waters, “where it is legal [for all members] to see the residents of the south from 300 yards, ”he said.

No whale watching companies were mentioned by name in the report.

In the Canadian waters of the Salish Sea, whale watching operators are required to waive southern resident killer whale watching under the Sustainable Whale Watching Agreement with Transport Canada.

However, the report said that over seven days in 2020, Canadian operators were observed more than 30 times looking at southern residents in Canadian waters for more than 30 minutes and, in some cases, for more than 60 minutes.

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“This report shows how many broke that trust – and the law – by endangering these endangered whales,” said Jeffery Young, senior science and policy analyst at the David Suzuki Foundation. “It is time for the federal government to fully prosecute the worst offenders.”

The report said Canadian whale watching operators were crossing into US waters. In all, in Canada and the US, southern residents were observed 180 times during the 12 days of monitoring in 2020, observing whales for more than 30 minutes.

Straitwatch said in its report that enforcement of the distancing rules by officials is lacking, especially on the Canadian side with Transport Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

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The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife was present with southern residents in US waters about 20 percent of the time. Canadian law enforcement vessels have been present an average of two percent of the time, without a notable increase in the presence of southern resident killer whales, according to the report.

Calls to Transport Canada to respond to the report were not returned. On its website, Transport Canada said it is hiring more fisheries officers to strengthen enforcement of the Species at Risk Act and increase aircraft patrols.

“Canada doesn’t have enough eyes on the water that surrounds residents of the south,” says Misty MacDuffee, director of the Raincoast Conservation Foundation’s wild salmon program. “Fisheries and Oceans Canada needs to be present when there are endangered whales in the Salish Sea.”

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