By Intern – Rebecca Schouten
The National Animal Rights Day (NARD) is a celebration involving 50 countries around the world, on the first Sunday in June, for the purpose of giving a voice to all animals and raising awareness for their rights. Three major pointers are emphasised during this day – Commemorate, Educate and Celebrate. We commemorate the animals impacted by anthropogenic stressors, we educate the public of our responsibility and how we can better treat animals and we celebrate the progress being made to end the suffering of animals around the globe.
At Sea Watch Foundation, we celebrate this day by promoting our “Code Of Conduct”. This legislation ecompasses a set of rules that must be followed to ensure that boat-cetacean interactions are safe, to not disturb their feeding, breeding and resting grounds. Dangerous interactions can not only disturb cetaceans from their habitat but can also physically damage them. There have been several encounters of boat strike on bottlenose dolphins, permanently damaging their dorsal fins.
When considering boat activity, it is important to remember that “boat” does not just mean vessels with an engine, but also includes paddleboards, kayaks, canoes and other means of water use. Therefore, to prevent incidents affecting marine mammals, the code states that:
1) Boats must be at least 100 m away from marine mammals and remain at a “no wake speed” i.e. no more than 5 knots.
2) Boats are not to remain in the cetacean area for more than 10 minutes and are to spend time with a specific encounter only once on a boat trip.
3) Animals should never be approached directly and boats must stay on their current route.
4) Boats must pass at least 100 metres away from bird breeding colonies and 200 metres during their breeding season with a “no wake speed”.
So how does this affect you? There are some basic steps you can do to avoid disturbing our beautiful cetacean species.
- Follow the Cardigan Bay code of conduct and read up on what rules we must follow.
- Plan – Before a boat trip, make sure to avoid breeding areas and locations with large concentrations of birds/seals. Check the agreed access restrictions map for specific areas. Research boat tour companies before choosing to ensure they follow the code of conduct. The Sea Watch Foundation provides a ‘Recommended Boat Operator’ award to companies that follow and maintain regulations.
- Report disturbances to Dyfed Powys police on 101 or on the CBSAC website
References
https://www.pembrokeshiremarinesac.org.uk/codes-of-conduct/
https://www.cardiganbaywatersports.org.uk/marine-code-of-conduct/
