Title: Best Practices for Whale Watching in the USCanadian Transboundary Waters of Haro Strait
1Best Practices for Whale Watching in the
US/Canadian Transboundary Waters of Haro Strait
- The Whale Museums Soundwatch Boater Education
Program - www.whale-museum.org
2Whale Watching in the Haro Strait Region
Over the past ten years whale watching
activities have grown into a billion dollar
(USD) industry involving over 80 countries and
territories and over 9 million participants (Hoyt
2001). The Canadian/U.S. boundary waters of Haro
Strait are often referred to as one of the
busiest whale watching areas in the world, with
over 80 commercial vessels originating from
nearly 50 companies in the US and Canada.
Soundwatch estimates that last year more than
500,000 people went whale watching from
commercial boats, while 3,000-8,000 engaged in
whale watching from private boats, and another
10,000 from private and commercial kayaks.
3Federal Marine Mammal Viewing Guidelines Are Not
Regulations
- Currently there are no marine wildlife viewing
or whale watch regulations in U. S. or Canadian
waters of the Salish Sea. In the U.S., marine
mammals are protected under the Marine Mammal
Protection Act of 1972 and are managed by the
National Marine Fisheries Service who have sole
jurisdiction (excepting walrus and sea otters)
superceding any state or local governments.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada manage marine mammals
under the Fisheries and Oceans Act of 1978-79,
but there is no marine mammal protection act
equivalent in Canada. Both the U.S. and Canadian
federal agencies have established northwest
regional marine mammal viewing guidelines to
prevent the likelihood of harassment or injury,
but at this time there are no laws regulating
viewing.
4The Whale Museums Soundwatch Boater Education
Program
- Since 1993, The Whale Museum has officially
operated the Soundwatch Boater Education Program
to promote stewardship of the marine wildlife
inhabiting the waters of the transboundary area
by residents, visitors and commercial users. The
program focuses on the development, distribution
and evaluation of best boating practices for
marine wildlife viewing in the Puget Sound,
Georgia and Juan de Fuca Straits.
5Soundwatch Best Practices for Viewing Marine
Wildlife
Each year since 1988, The Whale Museum has
summarizes existing regional viewing guidelines
and other relevant marine wildlife information
into Voluntary Best Practices brochures, flyers
and posters targeting private boaters and
kayakers. Soundwatch then promotes the guidelines
at regional presentations, posts them at local
boating facilities and on the World Wide Web, and
distributes them at The Whale Museum and
on-the-water from the Soundwatch boater education
vessel Raydiance. Soundwatch promotes community
generated, voluntary guidelines that can be
easily adapted and changed to best suit specific
wildlife needs and that rely largely on public
education, commercial buy-in and peer pressure to
change behavior.
6The International Whale Watch Operators
Association Northwestwww.nwwhalewatchers.org
Since its inception in 1994, the international
Whale Watch Operators Association Northwest
(WWOANW) has annually adopted a working set of
international voluntary guidelines for
commercial boat operators that are more explicit
then those outlined by both the US and Canadian
Federal governments. Soundwatch encourages the
WWOANW to adopt an annual set of commercial
guidelines to best meet changing marine wildlife
needs. Incorporating suggestions from region
NGOs like Soundwatch, commercial drivers,
residents and regional scientists, the WWOANW
implements a new working set of guidelines each
spring, and holds drivers meetings to interpret
the changes for the commercial operators who
ultimately are responsible for the behavior of
the commercial vessel industry as a whole.
7Feedback and Evaluation of Commercial Operator
Compliance
- In addition to distributing best practices to
private boaters, the Soundwatch boat daily
monitors the commercial operators to make sure
they are following their own guidelines.
Perceived violations are recorded with the time,
date, and location of the incident in a
Soundwatch Incident Log. Twice monthly feedback
reports are generated for each individual company
showing any incidents documented by Soundwatch.
Each company receives a report on their boat(s)
and an overall industry summary by mail, fax or
email. The reports are designed to be a tool for
company owners and operators to improve or
maintain best practices. The incident data is
also used to evaluate the effectiveness of
existing guidelines and to provide a basis for
the development of new guidelines.
8Partnerships Across the Border Soundwatch and
the Marine Mammal Monitoring Group (M-3)
www.salishsea.ca
In 2001 Fisheries and Oceans Canada piloted the
Marine Mammal Monitoring Project to assess vessel
impacts on marine wildlife in southern British
Columbia. Soundwatch and M-3 act as transboundary
counter parts, working in tandem to increase the
effectiveness of both teams efforts.
9Be Whale Wise Harmonized International Best
Practices for Viewing Marine Wildlife in the Haro
Strait Region
- M-3 and Soundwatch worked in close collaboration
with both the US and Canadian governments, The
Whale Watch Operators Association Northwest and
other regional stakeholders to develop a single
set of voluntary best practices to be printed in
an international wildlife viewing brochure
entitled Be Whale Wise. In 2002, both governments
and The Whale Watch Operators Northwest adopted
Be Whale Wise as the general code of conduct for
viewing marine wildlife in the transboundary
region. Any special local conditions warranting
more specific guidelines are presented by
separate flyers that accompany the Be Whale Wise
brochure.
10Be Whale Wise Guidelines For Watching Marine
Wildlifehttp//www.salishsea.ca/guidelines