A whale-watching tour operator is recalling the moments a boater almost collided with a humpback whale in Wilby Shoals, near Quadra Island, and hopes the incident will educate others about the dangers of getting too close to marine wildlife.
Photo: Wild Waterways Adventures/Facebook
“We were whale watching,” said Smalley. “There was a person coming, and so what happens when that happens is we have a whale flag that we buy from Marine Education Research Society .”, with yellow and red and a black whale tail, are supposed to catch boaters’ attention and alert them that there’s a whale in the area. Only this time it didn’t work, according to Smalley, who says the boater failed to stop or slow down.
“The boater could have easily been critically injured or worse, and the whale could have died from the impact. Or it could have been maimed,” she said. Boaters should keep at least 100 metres away from humpbacks, or 200 metres away from a mother and its calf, according to Smalley. She says boaters should slow down to seven knots or less when they spot a whale flag, then “slowly leave the area, or stop if they’re surprised by a whale right at the boat.”
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