Leave the friendly whales alone
DFO doesn’t want public getting too close to belugas
They may seem friendly enough but the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is asking people to stay away from Ingonish’s beluga whales.
Two of the rare whales, which appear to be a juvenile and a young calf, first appeared in Ingonish harbour earlier this month, captivating residents and tourists with their playful friendliness.
Since then, the pair have been surrounded by curious onlookers in boats and kayaks and even the occasional swimmer. It’s something that Corey Webster, DFO’s acting chief of program and operational readiness, conservation and protection, wants to discourage.
“We just want to remind people to stay 100 metres away
according to the new marine mammal regulations and respect that viewing distance because it’s for the safety of the animals as well as themselves,” Webster said last week.
The new amendments, which went into effect July 11, require vessels and people to stay 100 metres away from marine mammals in Canadian waters.
While no warnings nor charges have been laid yet, fisheries officers have been in the area assessing the situation and talking to the public about maintaining a safe distance from the animals and Webster is hopeful this will be enough to keep people away.
Otherwise written warnings may be issued and even charges laid.
“We have fishery officers who have been in the area and we’ve been working with the whale stewardship project trying to educate the public about interacting with the whales under the new marine mammal regulations,” said Webster.
“We observed some activities that we’re not comfortable with, so we’ve been talking to individuals and trying to really promote and educate an awareness of the harm that can come to the animals and of the new regulations.”
It’s the belugas’ friendly nature and natural curiosity that’s proving too attractive to onlookers.
“Belugas are especially sociable so they’re very curious,” said Webster. “What happens is if they’re hanging around and they get used to human interaction then they’ll go seek it out. And that can have very serious consequences because if for whatever reason there is a vessel that’s manoeuvring and doesn’t realize that the whales are there and the whales get attracted to it, it could injure or kill the whales.”
If you see any activity that may pose a threat to the whales or any marine mammals, Webster says to contact the local DFO office or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.