Whale-watching boats are putting whales in jeopardy, study says
Skippers ignoring speed limits in effort to wow passengers
In the lush waters of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, whale watching is one of the region's most beloved - and jaw-dropping - experiences. When one of the animals is spotted in the dark, cold waters, boats filled with awestruck tourists make a beeline to watch the leviathan feed and, if luck is with them, breach.
But a new study says whale-watching boats are going too fast near whales, endangering them and disregarding a decade-old pledge to slow down.
As part of the study, published this month in the journal Conservation Biology, researchers went undercover 46 times in 2003-2004 on ships owned by New England's whale-watching companies. Armed with global positioning system units, the observers recorded time, speed, and location at 5-second intervals. Every trip exceeded the voluntary speed limits, sometimes more than threefold, they found.
"I want to see whale watching, but it has to be done in a way as safe as we can make it," said Dave Wiley, lead author of the report, funded by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, an advocacy group.
"They are going too fast," said Wiley, research coordinator for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
The whale-watching companies are not named in the study.
Whale-watching boat owners acknowledge they sometimes exceed voluntary speed limits, but say they work hard to protect the whales.
"We do the best we can to stay within the guidelines," said Steve Milliken, owner of the Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch in Provincetown. "They are our livelihoods and we don't want to see any thing detrimental happen to them."
Another operator, Rick Nolan, owner of Boston Harbor Cruises, said the study was conducted during "drought" years for whales, so if one was spotted, boats sometimes sped to get tourists to them. Whales have become more abundant in Massachusetts Bay since then, he said, and the pressure has eased.
Every spring and summer, more than 1 million people pay about $35 to $40 to spend several hours traveling to Stellwagen Bank to gape at humpback, minke, right, and fin whales. On a busy summer Saturday, as many as 20 to 40 whale-watching and private boats are searching the water, and the industry in New England now takes in about $30 million a year, according to the latest available statistics.
Federal law prohibits boats from "harassing" whales, but boats have the right to get close to the animals. The only exception is the right whale, whose numbers are so low that people must stay three-tenths of a mile away.
In 1999, whale-watching companies strengthened voluntary guidelines and speed limits after whale watchers collided with three whales in 1998, killing at least one of them.
Now, once a whale is spotted, tour boats agree to go less than 15 miles per hour within about 2.3 miles of the animal. As they get closer than 1.2 miles, they are supposed to go less than 11.5 miles per hour. Within about a half-mile, they are limited to less than 8 miles per hour to avoid striking an animal that can hold its breath for several minutes and surface far from where it went under. If one whale is nearby, others are probably there as well, sharing feeding grounds.
Research shows the slow speeds help prevent collisions.
The study found that whale-watching vessels sped up most often in the zone farthest from the whale, perhaps because they had spotted an animal and wanted to get to it, or were leaving and wanted to hurry back to port. But some boats also went more than three times as fast as promised in the zone closest to a whale, where the risk of a collision is high.
"It places the whales in potential danger," said Wiley, noting that there is no official enforcement of the guidelines. Without oversight, his study indicated, voluntary measures don't work.
Others agree whale-watching boats are going too fast, but say an answer isn't easy.
"The speed guidelines are often not adhered to," said Mason Weinrich, executive director and chief scientist of the Whale Center of New England in Gloucester, which studies whales. Whale-watching boats hire naturalists from his group to teach the public about whales.
Weinrich said enforcement would be difficult on the open sea, and noted there haven't been any known whale strikes since the voluntary guidelines were updated.
He said strikes from tankers and private boats that don't know how to approach whales pose more of a risk to the animals than whale-watching boats.
Nolan said Wiley presented the findings to whale-watching companies a few years ago, and since then boat owners have tried harder to adhere to the guidelines.
"But the guidelines are just that and subject to broad interpretation," he said. For example, boats are supposed to slow down once a whale is spotted, but observers may spot a whale at different times.
Wiley suggested the public look for companies that post the guidelines on their boats and in ticket booths. If the guidelines are not posted, the public should ask why.
The study means "we can't take voluntary agreements at face value," he said.
Beth Daley can be reached by e-mail at bdaley@globe.com. 