Hi All,
I wanted to update interested parties on a recent unprecedented
legal action taken by a small local government in Washington State,
U.S.A., to help protect the endangered population of Southern
Resident Killer Whales from irresponsible boaters.
I work as the Director of The Whale Museum's Soundwatch Boater
Education Program located in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island in
Washington State. Soundwatch has been working since 1993 to help
reduce disturbances to whales and other marine wildlife through the
development, distribution, and implementation of best practice
guidelines and to annually characterize vessel activity trends for
area marine management agencies. Soundwatch has worked with many
partners to create the regional Be Whale Wise Guidelines for
Boaters, Paddlers and Viewers that are used throughout Washington
State and British Columbia, Canada.
The Southern Resident Killer Whale population was listed as
endangered under the Endangered Species Act by the National Marine
Fisheries Service in 2005. In 2006 the National Marine Fisheries
Service designated Critical Habitat Areas for this population with
the Summer Core Habitat centering on the waters located in and
around San Juan County. Recognizing that large numbers of commercial
and recreational vessels frequent the waters of San Juan County, and
that one of the listed threats to this population are effects from
vessel traffic, the San Juan County Council was presented with a
proposal from several local NGO's to create a local ordinance to
help protect the whales from vessel traffic occurring in the
county. After considerable public testimony, written statements and
reports from local NGO's and business groups such as Soundwatch,
Friends of the San Juans, Orca Relief, the Whale Watch Operators
Association Northwest as well as governmental agencies including
NOAA fisheries, the United States Coast Guard, the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife, the San Juan Marine Resources
Committee, the San Juan County Sheriff and the San Juan County
Prosecuting Attorney, the San Juan County Council signed into effect
on September 11, 2007 "An Ordinance Regulating The Operation of
Vessels in Proximity to the Southern Resident Killer Whales, an
Endangered Species,and Establishing Penalties for the Violation
Thereof" based on the current Be Whale Wise Guidelines for boaters.
View the San Juan County Orca Ordinance:
http://www.whale-museum.org/museum/press/latest/San%20Juan%20County%20ORCA%20ORDINANCE.pdf
View the Be Whale Wise Guidelines:
http://www.whale-museum.org/downloads/soundwatch/2006BWWPoster.pdf
For further information on this process or the ordinance, you can
direct questions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and I can help and/or
direct you to the right folks.
Regards,
Kari Koski
Soundwatch Director
Great News! Raise money for The Whale Museum and its programs just by
searching the Internet with GoodSearch -
<http://www.goodsearch.com/>www.goodsearch.com - powered by Yahoo!
... it doesn't cost you a penny!...but those pennies add up to help
the whales!
Kari Koski, Soundwatch Director
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
The Whale Museum
P.O. Box 945
Friday Harbor, WA 98250
360-378-4710 Box 33
360-317-4339 Cell
360-378-5790 Fax
www.whalemuseum.org
Be Whale Wise!
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