MAYDAY: Whale Strike Near Stanley Park
- May 4
- 2 min read
MAYDAY-- Whale Strike Stanley Park
Yesterday, May 4th, at 19:35, SAR 1B responded to a MAYDAY call whilst training.
The broken radio call described a collision between an operator of a personal watercraft and a whale in the general vicinity of Siwash Rock.
The operator of the Sea-Doo was travelling at a high rate of speed and was ejected from their vessel during the collision with the whale.
A sailboat in the area was able to get the injured operator onto their vessel and administer basic first aid before SAR 2 (North Vancouver) and SAR 1B arrived on scene to administer care to the patient.
The patient was assessed by First Responders from both Station 2 and Station 1 before being packaged and transported on SAR 2 to BCEHS at the Main Street Dock.
A great collaborative effort between the vessel of opportunity, Station 2 and Station 1.
Now, to address the safety of the whale. There is absolutely no way for us to assess the health of the gray whale, but it was seen in the area coming up to breathe.
It is the responsibility of all boaters to maintain situational awareness at ALL times. It is the responsibility of ALL boaters to operate their vessel at a safe speed.
It is the law to maintain a minimum of 100 m distance between your vessel and any whale, dolphin, or porpoise.
In many cases, it is the law to maintain 400 m between your vessel and whales. We encourage everyone to maintain a distance of 400 m whenever they see a whale.
The Marine Education and Research Society has fantastic resources, including an online course, to allow you to become a whale-safe boater.
