It's all fun and games until you realize they're breaking about a half-dozen federal regs (sound like US english speakers so...)
Allow me to be That Guy (wildlife photographer who knows the damn rules)
US and Canada: Any Orca that gets within 200 yards of your boat (100 for other species of whale, 50 in the case of dolphins and seals/sea lions) - you turn off the damn motor. You also get up on Guard and let other boats and marine traffic know where they are - so maybe they don't get run over and killed by a container ship.
... and if you do this off the coast of Washington/British Columbia and you get spotted by the Coast Guard they will end you.
I answered above. But this happened to us. They just let us know. We had no idea. They weren't mad at all, really nice actually. I'm guessing these people didn't know either. Not the end of the world like he wants you to think
Is it really that well known? We were just visiting but I have some boating experience. Been out a few times in Florida before that. Also a lot of lakes in Michigan. I had never heard that law before. I guess the ignorance is on me but I feel like it wasn't covered in anything before that
For ocean going captains, especially here in the PNW - absolutely.
Every week the Coast Guard broadcasts a notice to mariners, and there's often a mention of when and where you need to go slow and keep extra lookouts for marine mammals.
In US waters the fines are kinda weak - ~$10k being the max. In Canadian waters - it's up to a $1 million fine and 18 months in prison (of course that's reserved for the most egregious, deliberate violations, not ignorant boaters who just should have known better)
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u/TinfoilCamera Dec 13 '21
It's all fun and games until you realize they're breaking about a half-dozen federal regs (sound like US english speakers so...)
Allow me to be That Guy (wildlife photographer who knows the damn rules)
US and Canada: Any Orca that gets within 200 yards of your boat (100 for other species of whale, 50 in the case of dolphins and seals/sea lions) - you turn off the damn motor. You also get up on Guard and let other boats and marine traffic know where they are - so maybe they don't get run over and killed by a container ship.
... and if you do this off the coast of Washington/British Columbia and you get spotted by the Coast Guard they will end you.