PDFWAC 220-460-140
Commercial whale watching and paddle tour compliance and reporting.
(1) An automatic identification system (AIS) must be fitted aboard all motorized commercial whale watching vessels. The AIS must be capable of providing information about the vessel (including the vessel's identity, type, position, course, speed, and navigational status) to state and federal authorities automatically. Operators must maintain the AIS in operation at all times that the vessel is conveying passengers for a fee.
(2) All commercial whale watching and paddle tour license holders must complete annual training from the department on marine mammals, distances on the water, impacts of whale watching on marine mammals, and southern resident orca-related rules and reporting.
(a) At completion of training, license holders must demonstrate adequate understanding of course materials.
(b) It is unlawful to operate a commercial whale watching vessel or guide a tour of nonmotorized vessels without completing the training for the current calendar year.
(3) All commercial whale watching and paddle tour license holders are strongly encouraged to maintain accurate logs on each instance a vessel operating under a license encounters southern resident orcas and submit copies of the logs to the department within 24 hours of the encounter.
(4) Content of southern resident orca encounter logs:
(a) Logs should, at minimum, include the business name; vessel operator or paddle guide name; vessel name; the location(s) of southern resident orcas encountered; and the time and duration of the encounter.
(b) If applicable, license holders are encouraged to log details regarding encounters within 1,000 yards of southern resident orcas, including time and duration within 1,000 yards vicinity of southern resident orcas; time and duration within 400 yards of southern resident orcas; and measures taken to determine whether the whales were southern resident orcas.
(c) License holders are also encouraged to log qualitative details of southern resident orca encounters including whale identification, whale behavior and health, other vessel behavior, and any operator behavior, including contact with other boaters or government entities, and resulting outcomes.
(5) All motorized commercial whale watching license holders must report accurate, complete sighting information to the WhaleReport application for the whale report alert system (WRAS), or to a successor transboundary notification system designated by the department that is adopted by the international shipping community in the Salish Sea, immediately upon encountering a southern resident orca.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 77.12.047, 77.65.615, 77.65.620, 77.15.020, 77.15.160, 77.04.012, 77.04.55 [ 77.04.055], and 77.15.740. WSR 25-06-001 (Order 24-14), s 220-460-140, filed 2/19/25, effective 3/22/25. Statutory Authority: RCW 77.04.012, 77.04.055, 77.12.047, and 77.65.620. WSR 24-14-067 (Order 23-15), § 220-460-140, filed 6/27/24, effective 7/28/24. Statutory Authority: RCW 77.65.615 and 77.65.620. WSR 21-23-070, § 220-460-140, filed 11/15/21, effective 12/16/21. Statutory Authority: RCW 77.12.047, 77.65.615, 77.65.620, 77.15.020, 77.15.160, 77.04.012, 77.04.55 [ 74.05.055]. WSR 21-01-216 (Order 20-264), § 220-460-140, filed 12/23/20, effective 5/1/21.]