Relegate whale-watching to dustbin of history

Re: “Tourist boat collides with whale,” Aug. 9. The incident last week where a humpback whale was struck by a commercial whale “watching” boat is yet another reminder that this industry is far from benign from the whales’ point of view.

For those of us who live in the outer islands or spend time boating in the area, it’s an all-too-common sight: High-speed power boats charging in from all points of the compass mean just one thing — whales.

The resident orcas and transient whales face many challenges: toxic pollution, reduced food availability and increased marine traffic. Some of these problems are systemic and broadly environmental, very difficult to address. At least one stressor is obvious, unnecessary for human wellbeing and easy to alleviate: On-water commercial exploitation of whales as entertainment.

The industry would have us believe that it can be trusted to operate in a responsible manner that avoids detriment to the whales. Observation shows this to be untrue.

It is perhaps not even possible to deliver the close-up entertainment that paying customers expect without detriment to the whales.

Finally, after decades of public education and debate, we have arrived at a consensus that captive marine mammal “entertainment” is a practice that should be relegated to the dustbin of history. It is time we came to the same realization regarding the onthe-water marine mammal “entertainment” industry.

Whales can best be observed from land and appreciated via the many high-quality documentary videos that are available. Michael Symons Pender Island