Watching the Watchers : Coast Guard Places Undercover Officers Aboard Commercial Vessels to Report Any Harassment of Whales

Passengers aboard the boat Fury got a close view Wednesday of two barnacled California gray whales migrating north, not an unusual occurrence this time of year. Unusual, however, was the possible presence of an undercover agent of the U.S. Coast Guard.

This year, for the first time, law enforcement officers posing as passengers are boarding whale-watching boats to document incidents of whale harassment by boaters and jet skiers.

“We’ve never done this before,” said Coast Guard spokeswoman Brandy Ian of the agency’s decision last week to begin randomly placing plainclothes officers aboard commercial whale-watching boats from Dana Point to San Pedro.

The action came in response to a request by the National Marine Fisheries Service after a significant increase in reports of whale harassment over the past several weeks.

“There are people out there who seem to think that their purpose in life is to get as close as possible to a whale,” Ian said. “More and more people want to communicate with them; there have been reports of people actually jumping off their boats and trying to ride a whale.”

Harassing a whale or other marine mammal is a crime punishable by a $20,000 fine and up to a year in prison. By placing officers aboard boats, Ian said, the Coast Guard hopes to observe and document violations for later prosecution by the enforcement division of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Biologists have long worried about the increasing numbers of people who take to the seas between January and May to watch the annual 12,000-mile migration of the gray whales between their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic and breeding grounds along Mexico’s Baja coast. Some have theorized that the migration patterns of the animals have gradually shifted farther out to sea due to the proliferation in recent years of whale-watch cruises.

Concern turned to alarm earlier this month, however, when the National Marine Fisheries Service reported that incidents of harassment had increased dramatically from an average of one a month to more than nine in just the last 3 1/2 weeks.

“That’s kind of scary,” said Guy Hollstein, the service’s special agent in charge of enforcement for most of Southern California. “We don’t know whether the number of incidents has actually increased or whether people are just reporting them to us.”

The violations, mostly involving private boats and jet skiers, have ranged from coming too close to the migrating whales (defined as closer than 300 feet) and crossing their paths to actually scraping whales with boats.

“I’ve seen situations (in previous years) where boats have run over whales, chopped up their backs and disabled or mortally wounded them,” said Dennis Kelly, a marine biologist at Orange Coast College who has studied whales.

Besides the obvious damage caused by such collisions, Kelly said, the intentional or unintentional harassment of whales can disorient them, causing them to expend extra energy and become too exhausted to complete their migration. It can also separate mother whales from their calves, resulting in the almost certain deaths of the babies.

“Most people don’t do it intentionally,” said Joe Cordaro, a wildlife biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. “They are simply not informed as to what they’re doing.”

Since the undercover program began last weekend, no one has been cited, Hollstein said.

Said Captain Pat Backus of the Fury: “On a weekend you can get as many as 75 boats out here. It’s a big problem; they drive right over the top of (whales).”

On Wednesday, as the Fury vied with three other commercial whale-watch vessels and three private boats for the best views of the two gray whales, Backus said he hadn’t been informed of the presence of any Coast Guard officers on this particular cruise and wouldn’t expect to be.

“I have no problem with that,” Backus said.

Most of his passengers seemed to agree.

“This is their environment, not ours,” said Mark Tague, 40, a financial executive from Trabuco Canyon who said he had taken part of the day off to enjoy the ocean. “We have to conduct ourselves accordingly--as good guests.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Way to Watch Whales Harassing whales or any other marine mammals is illegal under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. Some reminders when whale watching or otherwise in their territory: *

Right of way: Don’t block the path of whales; do not get between whales *

Boats: Stay at least 300 feet away from whales. *

Aircraft: Stay at least 1,000 feet above whales. *

Speed: Do not move faster than whales; change speeds slowly around whales, if at all. *

Pursuit: Do not chase or attempt to herd whales. *

Snacks: Do not attempt to feed any marine mammal. *

Whistle blowing: Report any harassment incidents to the National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Enforcement Division, at (619) 557- 5494 or (310) 980- 4056. *

Punishment: Harassing whales could result in a $20,000 fine and up to a year in prison. Source: National Marine Fisheries Service