Vancouver Island whale watchers call for stricter B.C. whale-watching rules
A group of Vancouver Island whale watchers says crowded fleets, persistent pursuits and engine noise are harassing whales in the Salish Sea.
Reported by the Vancouver Sun; government and regulator response pending.
Illustrative photoHarassment is the word a group of Vancouver Island whale watchers is using for what they say is happening to whales in the Salish Sea.
The group wants British Columbia to bring in stricter whale-watching regulations, the Vancouver Sun reported. It points to three problems: crowded fleets of boats, vessels that keep pursuing the animals, and the noise of engines.
The call puts the conduct of boats around whales in B.C. waters back on the public agenda, and it targets the rules that govern how people watch the animals, not the animals' presence itself.
The characterization of the activity as harassment is the group's own. The three behaviours it names, crowding, pursuit and engine noise, form the core of its case for tighter rules.
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