Puget Sound Boater Who Buzzed Orca Whales Cited Under New County Ordinance

Monday, October 8, 2007
FRIDAY HARBOR, WASHINGTON - The first citation has been issued under a recently adopted ordinance to protect killer whales from intrusive and aggressive boating in San Juan County waters, Sheriff William G. Cumming told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

A man from Monroe operating a 25-foot white cabin cruiser was given a ticket carrying a maximum penalty of $750, Cumming said Sunday.

Two deputies issued the citation after noticing a pair of orcas that seemed to be isolated from a larger group of the marine mammals, also known as killer whales, on Sept. 27 off False Bay on the south side of San Juan Island, he said.

The deputies turned on their blue lights, then saw the cabin cruiser roar into the area. The pleasure craft slowed down after the boater spotted the patrol boat but continued to approach even after the deputies turned on more flashing blue lights, and the operator finally had to swerve to avoid hitting one of the whales, Cumming said.

The operator claimed he didn't know the killer whales were in the area and thought the blue lights indicated other law enforcement activity but was cited under an ordinance adopted a few weeks earlier which bars the feeding of killer whales, knowingly coming within 100 yards of orcas or failing to observe a safe speed within 400 yards of them.

County council member Kevin Ranker said he didn't know the specifics of the case but added, "This is the sort of situation that we need to remedy. The reality is that we have people out there -- some of them are unaware, some of them just get too excited or in some cases just don't care."

Source: The Oregonian