For the first time, people have been fined for flying drones too close to a pod of orcas in Washington State.
Two men were allegedly flying the drones within nine metres of a pod of resident killer whales in Haro Strait between Vancouver Island and San Juan Island last week, KIRO TV reported Wednesday.
Each man was ticketed more than $1,000 for the offense by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Washington State laws prohibit vessels or other objects from coming closer than 180 metres to resident orcas.
Similar laws exist in Canada under the Species at Risk Act, but a stewardship group on Vancouver Island that monitors whales has raised concerns about drones.
“[The act] has restrictions about flying aircraft, and although drones aren’t specified at this point, my understanding from talking with fisheries is that they’re going by those guidelines until others are brought into play,” said Roger McDonell, director of the North Island Marine Mammal Stewardship Association.
Douglas Shish of Mercer Island and a man from California who piloted one of the drones both received the tickets, which are the first issued of their kind.
Shih declined requests for an interview, according to KIRO.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says drones can be harmful to marine mammals by disrupting migratory patterns, breeding, feeding and sheltering.
