B.C. jet skier fined $5K for approaching dolphins too closely
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Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is reminding people that there are rules around approaching marine mammals after a man was fined $5,000 forgetting too close to a pod of dolphins.
Stephen Michael White was fined last month after being found guilty in November 2024 of violating a section of the Marine Mammal Regulations.
The incident took place in August 2022, in Broughton Strait near Port McNeill on Vancouver Island's northern coast, according to a media release from DFO.
White was recorded speeding toward a pod of Pacific white-sided dolphins on his jet ski, coming within a few feet of the creatures while filming on his phone — much closer than the 100-metre legal approach distance.
Witnesses immediately reported the incident. Evidence presented in court included images from White's own social media, as well as testimonies and images from witnesses.
The court found his actions to be negligent and reckless, leading to a six-month ban from operating any motorized vessel on water.
White is also prohibited from posting anything related to marine mammals to social media.
DFO says the case's guilty verdict and court-ordered fine reinforces the rules' importance to prevent disturbances.
Under the regulations, disturbances include approaching the animal to feed, swim, or interact with it; move it or cause it to move from the immediate area in which it is found; separate it from members of its group or go between it and its calf; trap it or its group between a vessel and the shore, or between a vessel and one or more other vessels; or approaching the animal to tag and mark it.
Toothed-whale species, including dolphins and killer whales, use sound to navigate their environment, also called echolocation.
The release says "close encounters with a vessel can disrupt their natural behaviours and interfere with essential sound signals used for communication, foraging, and socialization."
DFO is reminding British Columbians and anyone taking to open waters this summer of legal approach distances:
400 metres from all killer whales in southern B.C. coastal waters.
200 metres from all killer whales in all other Canadian Pacific waters, and when a whale, dolphin or porpoise is in a resting position or with a calf.
100 metres away from other whales, porpoises, and dolphins.
The restrictions apply to all motorized and self-propelled watercrafts, swimmers, and scuba divers — part of a host of protective measures designed to protect marine mammals in B.C. waters.
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