The Whales are Back

What happened to the other skipper (forgot his name)?

I'm glad you know and follow those regulations, Paul.

Mexico has good clear laws in place regarding best whale watching practices. It is our job to get the word out and teach people about whale behavior and give them experience on the water interpreting whale behavior (e.g., what direction they are traveling, if we are looking at a courting group, a male and female in courtship, a cow/calf pair which is resting, traveling or at play) so that boat operators learn how to handle their boats in a way that makes whales comfortable and relaxed and keeps everyone safe while the people on board have a good experience observing them.

Here are the Mexican laws, which along with universal best whale watching practices, I hope to be able to teach our local boat operators:

Whale Watching Regulations: NOM-131-SEMARNAT-2010

The minimum distance that should be kept from whales is 80 mt. (264 ft.) for boats without a whale watching permit (so much closer than in Canada!) Boats with whale watching permits may approach up to 30 mt. (100 ft.)
When whale watching, it is very important to try to keep a constant cruising speed with a maximum of 8 km/hr (5 mph, 4 knots), in all cases cruising speed should be slower than the slowest whale in the group.
Avoid drastic changes in speed and direction within 300 mt. (990 ft.) to the closest whale, because this scares them and can cause a colision.
If whales avoid you, change direction, breathing rhythm or modify their activity don’t approach them or move away slowly.
The correct way to approach a whale is from its side and slightly from the back, never from the front, or encircling them because this could be threatening to them.
Mothers with calves are very sensitive, so it is very important to be extremely careful when approaching them.
It´s forbidden to cause the dispersion of a group or to interrupt its activities.
Don´t throw anything into the water, especially plastic, cigarrettes or synthetic material that can cause problems to the animals if they accidentally swallow them.
Neither commercial or sport fishing should be conducted in an area where a group of whales have been identified.
Activities such as swimming, snorkeling, sea kayaking, jet skiing, parachuting,or scuba diving shouldn’t be done in the area where whales are found. It could be dangerous and can also affect and change the natural behavior of the whales.
For your own safety always wear a lifevest while in a motorboat.

There is so much to teach people and I really hope to have the opportunity to bring in experienced whale scientists and teachers as our community in Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa, Barra de Potosi and La Mahajua all have strongly shown that they want to learn more about our wonderful whales! We need $15,000 USD in funding to be able to run our study, do these workshops and teach everyone who wants to learn all that we know about whales.

Katherina

Whales of Guerrero Research Project
Facebook Page of Whales of Guerrero Research Project