Search-and-rescue officials say a Sea-Doo rider has been injured after slamming into a grey whale in a high-speed collision off Vancouver’s Stanley Park, while the animal’s fate is unclear. Jackie Hildering, with the Marine Education and Research Society, says the ‘extreme incident’ should serve as a reminder that boaters need to take responsibility for their actions.<\/p>\n
The Canadian Press<\/p>\n
Andy Zofka and his wife had set up their cameras on the seawall at Stanley Park in Vancouver on Monday evening, hoping to \u201cadmire nature\u201d and maybe get a glimpse of a pod of orcas or the grey whale that had been seen feeding nearby.<\/p>\n
But screams preceded the \u201chorrible experience\u201d that came next, when a man on a Sea-Doo sped into view and slammed into the grey whale just after it had surfaced, sending the watercraft airborne in a crash that Zofka blamed on \u201cirresponsibility and ignorance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rider was thrown from the craft and badly injured, with ambulance officials saying he was taken to hospital in a serious condition.<\/p>\n
Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue said the animal\u2019s fate was unclear, though Zofka shared a photo of it surfacing again soon after the crash.<\/p>\n
The collision was captured on video from multiple angles on Monday evening, prompting gasps and curses from those gathered at the shoreline to watch the whale that had been feeding in the area over the past week.<\/p>\n
Zofka, a photographer who moved from Britain to Vancouver about three years ago, said he first saw the rider speeding towards Lions Gate Bridge before turning around and heading closer to shore.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd people were screaming at him, \u2019slow down. There is a whale here,\u2019\u201d said Zofka.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the rider was going fast and hit the whale hard, said Zofka.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everyone was quite concerned that probably it just got killed, but then it definitely resurfaced,\u201d said Zofka, who added that the rider was \u201cscreaming for help\u201d from the water.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marine Search and Rescue said officers responded to a mayday call around 7:35 p.m. after the crash near Siwash Rock.<\/p>\n
The organization said the operator of the Sea-Doo was given first aid on a nearby yacht and one of its vessels, then taken to shore where they were picked up by ambulance.<\/p>\n
Brian Twaites, a public information officer with BC Emergency Health Service, said officers received a call at 7:54 p.m. about a person in the water needing medical help, and they were transported to hospital in \u201cserious but stable condition.\u201d<\/p>\n
The federal Fisheries Department said it was aware of the incident and was trying to assess any injuries to the whale.<\/p>\n
Vessels must keep a distance of at least 100 metres from all whales in Canadian waters, with stricter regulations depending on the species and circumstances.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is absolutely no way for us to assess the health of the grey whale, but it was seen in the area coming up to breathe,\u201d Marine Search and Rescue said in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The videos show the whale surface and spout before the Sea-Doo appears from the right and slams into it. The craft flies in the air for five to 10 metres after hitting the whale, crashing down hard and dismounting the rider.<\/p>\n
Zofka said the whale \u201cresurfaced a few times\u201d after the crash. \u201cIt seemed to be okay. It was moving,\u201d said Zofka.<\/p>\n
He called the incident \u201ceasily avoidable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, to be honest, the first thing that crossed my mind \u2013 I actually shouted it quite loudly \u2013 it\u2019s \u2019what an idiot,\u2019\u201d said Zofka.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, I don\u2019t wish anyone to get harmed, and then it\u2019s sad that he got injured, but it was just the fact that this was so easily avoidable. It was so stupid…That was the worst part.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jackie Hildering, education and communication director with Marine Education and Research Society, said the grey whale might be \u201cnutritionally stressed\u201d and trying to bulk up, but has chosen to feed in a \u201chighly urbanized area.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the animal is not the whale known as Little Patch, that drew fans last year after feeding close to shore off Vancouver for an extended period.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s make this outrage count. To demand responsibility, to demand as well that people be educated. There\u2019s no excuse,\u201d said Hildering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t about one whale. This is about many whales and boaters that should learn from this experience and understand that it is their responsibility,\u201d said Hildering.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we are privileged to boat in other people\u2019s territories in the presence of marine mammals, you need to be educated. You need to be a whale-safe boater.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Search-and-rescue officials say a Sea-Doo rider has been injured after slamming into a grey whale in a high-speed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[361,95],"class_list":{"0":"post-33765","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vancouver","8":"tag-pleasemod","9":"tag-vancouver"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}