Further Information and resources:

fisheries and ocean canada marine mammal regulations

Whale Watching guidelines

reporting marine mammal incidents and findings

 

Clean Waters Bring Whale Sightings:
Be Whale Wise!

You may have been lucky enough to see one of the many whales in English Bay and Burrard Inlet recently. These sightings indicate that our local waters are clean and provide an abundance of food for marine life.

Royal Vancouver Yacht Club is proud to be a community leader by implementing environmentally sound practices in both home port marinas. Jericho Marina has been given the Clean Marine 4 Anchor status by the Georgia Strait Alliance, and Coal Harbour is on its way to the same rating.

This is a great time to remind members that Fisheries and Oceans Canada have strict marine wildlife guidelines for boaters, paddlers and viewers.

The graphic below shows the Canadian exclusion zones. Note that the 100m exclusion zone applies to all traffic, powered or otherwise; while the 400m limit is not only a “no go” in front and behind whale paths, but also a slow zone on all sides.

The US and NOAA have some different regulations. It appears that their exclusion zone is 200 yards on all sides, 400 yards in front. Please keep this and other US regulations in mind when you exit Canadian waters.