Keep Your Distance from Marine Mammals: It's the Law!

Watching whales and other marine mammals in their natural surroundings gives us an opportunity to better appreciate these beautiful animals, but when we get too close, we risk disturbing and even harming them. Hence the need to better regulate how we watch these beloved giants.

Now, under the new Marine Mammal Regulations, which entered into force in July, there are distances to be kept when approaching whales, porpoises and dolphins. The purpose of the new rules is to legally protect marine mammals from disturbances caused by human activity.

In general, the regulations state and reinforce the scope of the following instructions:

• Disturbing a marine mammal is prohibited, meaning you must not, among other things:
  • feed it;
  • swim or interact with it;
  • move it (or cause it to move);
  • separate it from its group or go between a female and its calf;
  • trap it between a vessel and the shore, or between vessels or small craft; or
  • tag or mark it.
• The minimum approach distance for most whales is 100 metres, or the length of a football field.

Specific rules were established in some locations or for species at higher risk, because of the threats that they face. So, if you sail in the St. Lawrence Estuary and in the Saguenay, here is something else you need to know:

• A minimum approach distance of 400 metres is mandatory for whale, dolphin and porpoise species that are endangered or threatened, including St. Lawrence beluga whales and blue whales. Note that 400 metres is almost the length of Percé Rock!
• For all other whales, the minimum distance is 200 metres.
• In the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park, the Marine Activities in the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park Regulations apply. Make sure you clearly understand them.

Remember that marine mammals are faced with a complex set of threats. These include a lack of prey availability, increased noise from passing vessels, collisions with vessels, entanglement in fishing gear, and water pollution. Watching these marine mammals with binoculars at a safe distance, as prescribed in the laws and regulations of Canada, can contribute to their well-being, to the recovery of some, and even to their survival.

To report a marine mammal disturbance or harassment

Alexandra Soulières
Communications