A Campbell River professional whale-watching guide was fined $10,000 under the Species At Risk Act for knowingly approaching threatened killer whales.
On September 13, in Campbell River Provincial Court, Honourable Judge R. Lamperson found Nicklaus Templeman, the owner and operator of Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions, guilty of violations under both the Species At Risk and Federal Fisheries Acts.
The judge ordered Templeman to pay a fine of $5,000 for each violation, for a total of $10,000.
He also directed that the fine be used for the conservation and protection of marine mammals in the waters off British Columbia.
The sentence stems from an incident on May 27, 2019, when Templeman was observed by two other whale-watching guides illegally approaching a killer whale within 35 metres near Willow Point.
Templeman acknowledged over the VHF radio that he was aware of the presence of the whale pod.
However, he continued to travel in their direction and positioned his vessel in a way to ensure that the whales would have to pass him in close proximity.
There were six to seven commercial whale-watching vessels in the area of the incident who provided witness statements, as did several of the tourists who were on board.
These witnesses also provided significant amounts of photos and video statements.
Bigg’s killer whales are long-lived predators that are considered to be at risk due to small population size, very low reproductive rate (one calf approximately every five years), and high levels of chemical contaminants that are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic.
Because they rely on stealth and passive listening to detect prey, Bigg’s killer whales are at risk of habitat degradation through acoustic disturbance from underwater noise.
