New Rules Proposed for Protecting Puget Sound’s Killer Whales
Biologists have known for years that the low numbers of Southern Resident Killer Whales in Puget Sound may be tied to vessel traffic. A new plan for curbing vessel activity may help increase the population of these marine mammals.
New rules regarding vessel traffic have been proposed by NOAA’s Fisheries Service to provide additional protection of the Southern Resident Killer Whales (Orcinus orca). The regulations, if adopted, would take effect as early as May 2010.
According to today’s release by NOAA, the new proposal would curb vessel activity by:
- Prohibiting vessels from approaching any killer whale closer than 200 yards
- Forbidding vessels from intercepting or parking in the path of a whale
- Establishing a half-mile-wide no-go zone along the west side of San Juan Island from May 1 through the end of September, where generally no vessels would be allowed
