A grey whale surfacing near Vancouver's Stanley Park on May 4, after it was struck by a Sea-Doo.Andy Zofka and Anne Zofka/The Canadian Press
It has been an enchanting spring in the waters off southern B.C. Whales have been feeding, to British Columbians’ great delight – but also horror.
Just over a week ago, as all kinds of people on shore and in boats observed a grey whale near Siwash Rock off Stanley Park, along came a Sea-Doo rider bombing through the water, colliding with the magnificent creature.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) told The Globe and Mail that while it can be difficult to properly assess the health of a live whale, after the impact, the whale was observed feeding, moving normally and appeared to be in good condition.
As for the human, he was thrown from his watercraft and taken to hospital but suffered no serious injuries, according to a report. “I feel so awful that this got witnessed and this happened,” the unidentified man told CityNews in an interview.
Sea-Doo rider hurt after colliding with whale in Vancouver
He admits to going 94 km/hour at the time. He said he had “zero clue” the whale was there – in spite of all the people and boats around watching for it – and is calling for better warning systems to let people know when whales are nearby.
On Monday, the Vancouver Police Department said it has concluded its work on the matter, and that charge and enforcement consideration is in the DFO’s hands. The DFO said it cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.
There are regulations around this. The law says you cannot get within 100 metres of whales – but 200 metres if they are in a resting position or with a calf, and 400 metres from all killer whales in southern B.C. coastal waters. On June 1, that will increase to 1,000 metres for Southern Resident killer whales, which are endangered.
There are also voluntary measures, including reducing speed to less than seven knots when within 1,000 metres of an orca.
Even a casual Instagram user can see that these rules – and requests – are being breached. Why aren’t they being enforced? And why are speed measures voluntary?
Search-and-rescue officials say a Sea-Doo rider has been injured after slamming into a grey whale in a high-speed collision off Vancouver's Stanley Park, while the animal's fate is unclear. Jackie Hildering, with the Marine Education and Research Society, says the 'extreme incident' should serve as a reminder that boaters need to take responsibility for their actions.
The Canadian Press
Not even this upsetting collision, captured on video and widely viewed, seems to have provided the necessary wake-up call.
On Sunday, less than a week after the crash, a group of orcas was feeding off Stanley Park, with all kinds of boaters around. Most, says Deborah Katz Henriquez, who was watching from the shore, were respectfully “enjoying the show” at a distance. But the Vancouver-based children’s author also saw motorboats, sailboats and others approaching the whales. “They were as close as they could get,” she told me.
She saw motorboats and jet-skis “zipping through” the area. “There was no way that any of these people could have not known what they were doing.”
After last week’s grey whale collision, Ms. Katz Henriquez launched a petition to restrict personal motorized watercraft in the waters when whales are feeding.
“Municipal governments around the world have successfully implemented bans or limitations on jet skis and high speed motorcraft in ecologically sensitive and high-risk areas to protect both wildlife and human populations,” the change.org petition states. “It’s time for Vancouver to follow suit and prioritize the health of our marine ecosystem.”
It calls for restrictions on the launching of personal watercraft from city-managed beaches, mandatory slow zones and increased patrols, among other things.
She says she has heard from people who have themselves been hit or scared by personal motorized watercraft, or experienced wake-related injuries.
The DFO declined a Globe and Mail interview request, but in an e-mail, recounted the regulations and urged everyone to be “Whale Wise.”
There is no way that lack of awareness is the problem. Regardless, enforcement is a more effective remedy.
“The whole ‘raise awareness’ thing is such an utter copout,” Mark Leiren-Young, an orca activist, writer, filmmaker and podcaster, told me. “The single easiest way to raise awareness is to charge people. If someone is hit with a $20,000 fine, believe me, that will raise awareness really fast.”
Mr. Leiren-Young, whose new book is One Ocean: 7 Ways to Save the Seas, jokes that maybe we should again refer to orcas more commonly as killer whales. Maybe the more violent-sounding branding would keep people away.
The Southern Resident Orca population is endangered. And this spring, an alarming number of “very skinny” dead grey whales have been discovered off the B.C. coast.
We’ve done enough to imperil these magnificent creatures. It’s time to step up enforcement to protect them from more human-caused harm.