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Water Ways Ray Pendleton |
Save the whales
by being alert
It's a sure sign of autumn when nearly all the recreational boating magazines this month have articles on how best to store your boat for the winter.Of course, here in Hawaii's year-round boating climate, boat owners have another sure sign of the changing seasons: the return of the Pacific humpback whales.
Hawaii's whale season begins in November and lasts until late April or May. So a reminder to safely share our offshore waters with an eventual 5,000 of these incredible creatures is needed about now.
Until the 2003-04 season, this ocean sharing had been particularly successful, with very few physical contacts among whales and boats reported. But then last year, we had three encounters and one of them led to a human fatality.
On Christmas Day, a 3-year-old boy, aboard a whale-watching vessel and being held by his father, died of spinal injuries when his father lost his footing after the boat and a whale collided off Diamond Head.
Eleven days later, a Maui-based fisherman was knocked unconscious when his 18-footer struck an unseen whale, while less than a month after that, a recreational boater near Lahaina reported being struck by a young humpback.
In the incident involving the fatality, the Coast Guard determined the captain "could have brought the vessel to a complete stop and avoided the incident" had he not been distracted when the whales were first visible in front of the boat.
In the case of the Maui fisherman, according to news reports, the whale popped up about 20 feet in front of his boat, so he didn't have time to avoid the collision.
Most recreational boaters are at an extreme disadvantage when it comes to close encounters with a fully grown humpback that can reach a length of 45 feet and weigh some 40 tons.
Still, it is the humpbacks that are listed as the protected species and there are a number of state and federal laws that boaters must comply with for their well-being.
Most importantly, boaters are forbidden to approach whales closer than 100 yards -- one football field. And if a humpback suddenly surfaces within that range, boat operators are required to move slowly away, after coming to a stop to observe the whale's direction.
The law also states that it is illegal to disrupt the whales' normal behaviors or prior activities by any act or omission. This would include causing a whale to accelerate, change directions or take prolonged dives.
Obviously, colliding with a whale would rank as a severe disruption of its behavior and even if a boater lived to tell about it, he or she could face a fine of up to $10,000.
With a sanctuary covering 1,400 square miles, officials depend upon all boaters to be self-policing and to report any violations by calling the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Enforcement Hotline at 1-800-853-1964.
The humpbacks are depending on you.
His column runs Saturdays in the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached by e-mail at raypendleton@mac.com.