Cape Breton whale expert says some boats, drones are harassing the animals by getting too close
Dalhousie researcher calls for better education, enforcement of regulations
A whale expert in Cape Breton says some people are not following federal regulations intended to keep watercraft away from marine mammals and she is calling for more education and enforcement.
Elizabeth Zwamborn, a PhD student at Dalhousie University who has been studying pilot whales off Cape Breton for nearly a decade, says she has seen some recreational boat and drone operators — and some commercial whale watching tour operators — get too close to the animals.
That increases the risk of whales getting hurt or killed by propeller strikes and research shows the noise from boat and drone motors can drive them away and cause nursing females to feed their calves less.
Zwamborn, who regularly charters whale watching tour operators to research the roughly 2,500 pilot whales that visit Cape Breton, said the industry in Atlantic Canada is improving, but a couple of high-profile fines on the West Coast show that enforcement is uneven.
"Whale watching has the potential to be super-educational, super-informative and a lot of times us humans, we don't really care about something unless we see it, so there is the potential. But we do have to think about the disturbance we have on the creatures and balancing that," she said.
"There are whale-watch operators who care out there, but there are a lot of people who are in it more for the business side and in that case we've seen a lot of disturbance, a lot of physical avoidance, a lot of unnecessary harassment of the whales here."
Few complaints on East Coast
In 2021, a whale watching tour guide in B.C. was fined $10,000 for getting too close to a killer whale and earlier this year, a Prince Rupert, B.C., man was fined $12,000 for swimming with orcas.
In the case of the whale watching operator, it was other operators and tourists who testified in court that he had been breaking the rules.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says it has only received three complaints in the last three years about people approaching whales in the waters off Cape Breton and none has resulted in a charge.
Zwamborn said she has spoken with DFO numerous times, but there doesn't seem to be any interest in enforcement here.
According to regulations established in 2018, boats are supposed to stay at least 100 metres away from whales and other marine mammals.
They have to keep a 200-metre distance if whales are resting on the surface or with calves, which extends to 400 metres in parts of the St. Lawrence Estuary and on the West Coast, where some killer whales are endangered.
The regulations also say people can't swim or interact with whales, feed them or move them — or entice them to move — and drones cannot be within 300 metres above whales or within 900 metres across the water.
Zwamborn said whale watching tour operators might feel the need to get as close as possible as quickly as possible in order to give customers the best experience, but they need to focus on the animals first.
"That's the most important thing, that we care about the whales that we're watching, that we do give them a bit of a buffer, some space, limit the amount of time that we're with them," she said.
"You can see them really well in 15 minutes or so and then really use it as the educational opportunity that it can be."
Gen Millar Lapointe, a senior DFO compliance officer, said the rules are enforced everywhere, but the Atlantic and Pacific regions cannot be compared.
"There's a dedicated whale protection unit on our West Coast, so there's a different level of effort there, because of the iconic killer whales," she said.
Officers on the East Coast take complaints seriously and work to keep whales and people safe, said Millar Lapointe, but they need the public to provide information on disturbance and harassment or injured and entangled whales.
"Our ocean landscape here on the East Coast is quite vast and although we conduct these regular patrols, we do need help," she said. "We need the public assistance."
Millar Lapointe said people should call a local DFO office or report tips anonymously through Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or online at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca.
Zwamborn said she was not singling out any particular whale watching tour operator. She has used more than one for her research, because they have larger boats that can accommodate research equipment and students.
This summer, she used Oshan Whale Watch out of Bay St. Lawrence which has been in business since 1998.
Oshan captain Ray Fraser said there is a bit of an incentive to find the whales quickly and get customers as close as possible, but the company has learned over the years that that approach just scares the animals away.
"When we first started out, we were probably guilty of chasing them down countless times, because we were new at the job and two things were happening. One, you weren't aware that there's whales in that area when you're trying to position the boat.
"Two ... whales are magnetic. You want to be closer to them. They're beautiful creatures and so that was in the back of your head when you first started, but, experience. You just do a gentle approach and don't go straight towards them and keep your distance and they'll come closer to you, because you're not a threat."
Many tour operators are also in the commercial fishery and they know the importance of protecting the stock to make their business sustainable, Fraser said.
They also understand the need to be careful around animals.
"A lot of us here are hunters and outdoorsy people and you realize that even if you're on a jet ski or you're on a boat, the best way to see that whale and get close to that whale is to just stop," he said. "It's like your boat acts as a tree blind."
Fraser said he has not seen many whales being harassed, but if he did, he would be more likely to talk to the person directly than to call the authorities.
Millar Lapointe said DFO takes a progressive approach, starting with education and warnings before laying charges.
Zwamborn said she is not suggesting the federal agency go straight to enforcement, but it could do a better job of educating people about the marine mammal regulations.
"I personally don't want to see us have to fine everyone," she said. "There's more steps before enforcement that have to be taken."
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