Vessel Activity & Boating Protocol

VESSEL ACTIVITY & BOATING PROTOCOL:

With the expiation of emergency circumstances of human safety, operators should always:

• Avoid having more than one vessel watching a marine mammal or a cohesive group of cetaceans;

• If more than one vessel is in the approach zone, they should be in radio communication to coordinate their movements around cetacean(s);

• A dedicated observer should be on duty wherever possible in addition to the captain of the vessel;

• Care should be taken that no vessel enter in the path between a cetacean separating it from a group or dividing a mother from her calf or that a group or individual be dispersed; dispersal may result from vessel harassment or approaching a cetacean too quickly or too closely.

• Under no circumstances should cetaceans be driven or their movements blocked by vessels; e.g. leap frogging is strictly forbidden.

• Sudden or repeated change in the speed or direction of vessels or aircraft should not be made except in the case of an emergency;

• Vessels should not drift down towards cetaceans; and maintain a distance of 200m between any other boats in the vicinity; successive boats should follow the same course and come astern.

• If cetaceans approach the vessel or bow-ride, maintain a slow, steady speed without changing course; ideally 7- 10 knots.

• Where a vessel stops to enable the passengers to watch a cetacean, the engines should be placed in neutral or powered off;

• When departing from watching cetaceans it is of importance to determine where the animals are relative to the vessel to avoid collisions or coming too close to the animals. In

some circumstances it may be necessary to wait for animals to return to the surface from a dive to be certain as to their position;

• Cetaceans should never be approached head-on, or from directly behind, nor should they be closely paralleled by vessels or approached by vessels under sail; and isolated mother and calf pairs and isolated calves should also be left alone, as should animals that appear to be resting or avoiding vessels.