[Paddlewise] whales and kayaks

Seems my orginal post on whales has resulted in considerable discussion on the
ethics of observing whale and other wildlife. 


Admittedly I often find myself within the 100 yard limit with whales and
sealions. I paddle out to the general area and wait and to be honest, hope for
a close look. 


However I observe the following personal ethics in watching wildlife. 


I do not aggressively pursue wildlife. (the whales in silver bay pop up at
random places so trying to chase them would be fruitless anyway.) On a couple
of occasions I could have paddled into the midst of a pod or even gotten close
enough to touch one...I wisely avoided the temptation. 


I stay away from mothers and young (i.e. seals and their pups on ice bergs)


I watch the animal behavior for signs that my presence is causing stress.
(whale for instance will slap their tails on the water)


even though I was recently ask to take a bunch of college students out with me
to see whales I said not because too many kayaks I beleve could stress the
whales





    Some may find fault with what I and melissa as we paddle amid whales but
an interesting encounter between a whale and a kayaker happened he in Sitka a
couple years ago that is a story of a kayaker coming to the aid of a whale in
trouble.


a local kayaker was out for a day paddle when he spotted a young humpback
whale and something didn't look right. he paddled over for a closer look and
discovered that tangled around the tail of the whale was a rope. the rope
turned out to be from a commercial crab pot with both the bouy and the crab
pot still attached. the young whale was trying to drag this through the water.

the kayaker alerted fish and game via his VHF. (another good reason to carry a
radio)


The whale appeared extremely tired so fish and game was able to get close
enough to cut the buoy and pot free. However when last seen some of the line
was still wrapped around the whale's tail.


   Happy paddling


Bob


Sitka





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