Whale Watchers

ziggy

ziggy

Well-Known Member
Just read the latest on a Whale Watcher craft ramming a whale. Ironically the same outfit was admonishing the Navy for doing a demolition exercise on an island a few days before. Seems they were unaware that the range was active and surprised by the explosions, which is weird given it was published. I'm amazed this is the first whale/ whale vessel reported incident given the speed some of these guys burn around at and their seeming lack of concern for anything other than their viewing target. They claim to be worried about sound impacting the whales yet totally swarm any pod ,arriving and departing at high speed. I'm sure many, my self included have had these guys rip by with no concern for the wake they are throwing up.

The whale in the story was rammed at between 24 to 28 kts (according to the news) but they claim although two passengers were hospitalized the whale was unhurt?? Wonder if the spin would be different had an RCMP,Navy or Coast Guard vessel been involved as opposed to a Whale Watcher?
 
My observations in Tofino is that whale watching vessels are the majority of traffic. Just the other day I saw one of the 12 passenger boats with twin 300's re-fueling. It had the wording "carbon neutral adventures" written on the side.
This is an industry that just can't admit it is industry and spends a fair amount of time pointing fingers elsewhere.
 
Cant believe they don't get a "harassment of wildlife" ticket. You see people on facebook getting tracked down and ticketed. Should be whale watchers as well. Everyone says whales are dyeing due to lack of food, who in the heck can eat or hunt with all those boats following them around? There terrible.
 
Birdsnest said:
My observations in Tofino is that whale watching vessels are the majority of traffic. Just the other day I saw one of the 12 passenger boats with twin 300's re-fueling. It had the wording "carbon neutral adventures" written on the side.
This is an industry that just can't admit it is industry and spends a fair amount of time pointing fingers elsewhere.
Click to expand...

I wish I could do a double like.
 
Those guys are idiots, they swamp boats all the time. Don't give them any info on the radio or send them in other direction.
 
I'm sure the whale watching industry is having effects on whale ability to communicate given the number of boats and the big engines they require... some of the boats do take active measures to reduce engine noise however and they do have regs/standards on how and when to arrive/depart from a pod of whales though as some have mentioned that seems to vary widely by operator. In the SOG I've seen times where there are 10+ large whale watching boats around a pod of killer whales and it makes me wonder how pissed off those whales must be. They are tracked morning and night and don't seem to get a ton of time to themselves.... especially the SRKW pods.

As for 'carbon neutral', many of the companies do buy offsets so they are meeting the standards similar to Harbour Air or other travel companies who 'pay to pollute'. It's the best they can do given the current technology so I applaud them for doing so as it is an added cost of business. Hoping tesla comes out with outboard engine soon so that we can all stop polluting while enjoying our time on the water.

Birdsnest said:
My observations in Tofino is that whale watching vessels are the majority of traffic. Just the other day I saw one of the 12 passenger boats with twin 300's re-fueling. It had the wording "carbon neutral adventures" written on the side.
This is an industry that just can't admit it is industry and spends a fair amount of time pointing fingers elsewhere.
Click to expand...
 
Come by our house and watch those dipshits running all over, right on top of them harassing the **** out of them makes me sick watching the gong show
 
I have watched that gong show a few times. While the rules say 1 hour maximum observe time. >100 meters and no more than 2 boats in 500 meters a time, these guys are ALWAYS breaking the rules. They have a complete disregard for any other boats on the water and I have seen them muscle their way in on pods with little regard for anyone else around.

Not that I would ever recommend that you give them bad directions for the locations of any pods (or make up a couple )...... or anything like that. That would be wrong..........
 
finaddict said:
Not that I would ever recommend that you give them bad directions for the locations of any pods (or make up a couple )...... or anything like that. That would be wrong..........
Click to expand...

Absolutely not!! So wrong! BUT they do say that silence is golden!-don't offend them they may not tell us where the salmon are-in retaliation!!
 
interesting as i see them buzzing around bark sound all the time... they definitely do not follow regs, as others may already be sitting engines off near by , they will race in... one stopped to tell me i was fishing illegally in the park! i replied "oh look a whale you should go chase!" customers had a laugh.

i am going to record the crap that i see them doing.

they use a commercial channel. but ask on channel 6 if anyone has seen whales... they also communicate or used to with local float plane operators...
 
I think the two groups whale watchers/angers should work together to ensure these whales thrive. Throwing them under the bus publicly about how they interfere with the whales ability to forage will only result in them throwing us under the bus abut how we are the cause of a shortage of their prime food supply. If they are forced to stay away from the whales and we are the reason why this happens they will make sure we stay away from the Chinook they feed on.
 
profisher said:
I think the two groups whale watchers/angers should work together to ensure these whales thrive. Throwing them under the bus publicly about how they interfere with the whales ability to forage will only result in them throwing us under the bus abut how we are the cause of a shortage of their prime food supply. If they are forced to stay away from the whales and we are the reason why this happens they will make sure we stay away from the Chinook they feed on.
Click to expand...

o_O:confused:

how about if they are forced to be polite boaters and follow regs they most likely helped create? maybe we would all get along then. they are throwing themselves under the bus with their lack of respect. well some, and i am sure not all...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Salted
Straightwatch - Who are they really?
Replies
10
Views
2K
vicsurfer
vicsurfer
Derby
Sea Shepherd Attacked by Poacher
Replies
0
Views
527
Derby
Derby
Sushihunter
BCWF - Halibut, Executive Summary
Replies
2
Views
1K
mason.jar
M
Back
Top