Whale Watching, Give The Whales Some Room

I spend a lot of time at the coast. Mostly fishing in the ocean waters off of Oregon and Washington. It is common for us to see gray whales. It is always a thrill and the camera's come out trying to get a good picture or two. Gray whales can reach 45 feet in length and 35 tons in weight. That is a whole lot bigger than my boat. When we see one we give them a very wide berth. Gray whales are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The National Marine Fisheries Service guidelines require boaters and whale watching tours to not approach within 100 yards of the animals.

100 Yards is only 300 feet. That is way too close for comfort. You may just see a single spray out of the corner of your eye. That doesn't mean there is only one. It could easily be a mother with a calf. I will give them as much room as I can. Several hundred yards. The reason is twofold. Colliding with one could harm the animal and/or could injure someone on my boat if not worse. We could easily end up accidentally swimming with the whales and that is not a good thing in these waters. Your survival time is severely limited due to the cold water.

We have seen them within a few hundred yards of the Columbia River jetty's. Last summer we were returning from salmon fishing out in the ocean in front of the town of Long Beach WA. As we approached the north jetty we saw a spray. And than the whale. I was driving the boat. The whale was maybe 300 yards ahead of us. Close enough to the north jetty that cutting between the whale and the jetty was not a good move. These can be dangerous waters. I could have just made a path out and around the whale. That would mean I would have to cross the whales path. Never a good idea because it is not readily apparent how many there were. I chose the best option which was to shut down and just wait a few minutes till they cleared the area I wanted to enter.

Whales are fun to watch and whale watching cruises has become a multi-million dollar industry. Paying passengers want the skipper to get up close so they can get great pictures to show. This has resulted in collisions with the whales and even death. It is a shame we get so fascinated with one of the earths creatures that we accidentally end up killing them. If you plan to go on a whale watching trip, ask questions of the skipper. Try to pick a crew and skipper that truly respects these animals and will put the animals safety and space, above your ability to get a great picture. Spend a few dollars on camera equipment that will allow you to get that shot without having to be up close and personal.

In Puget Sound, we have resident populations of killer whales. (Orca's).These are beautiful animals and there is a charter fleet of tour operators for people who want to see them up close. We also have non resident populations that migrate in and out of Puget Sound. The southern pod, which numbers around 88 individuals has been listed under the Endangered Species Act. At present the minimum distance rule is 100 yards. There is a proposal to double that to 200 yards and not allow boats to park in the path of a pod of whales beginning in 2011.

So many whale watching boats following the Orca's around that it constitutes harassment of the animals. Imagine being an Orca in Puget sound and everyday you got the paparazzi following you to and fro. Interfering with your ability to feed and breed. All those boats put a lot of undo stress on these animals. Their numbers are low and the future is unknown for them. If I were allowed to write the rules, people would be very upset with me. I would severly limit the number of boats and the number of days a month the puget sound Orca's could be part of a whale watching trip. And all other days the minimum distance would be at least a 1000 yards.

The Orca's in Puget Sound face some of the same problems as many other species on this planet. Declining habitat due to development, declining food supply, due to diminished salmon runs, and pollution. The least we can do is give them some room.