Jet skis spark fierce debate after whales spotted off Aussie coast
Updated: An incident involving two whales over the long weekend has sparked controversy.
The sunrise on Australia’s east coast was looking perfect on Monday morning. It was a public holiday in Sydney, the temperature was shaping up to hit 26 degrees, and the ocean was relatively calm.
Early risers at Terrigal on the Central Coast were enjoying the morning when jet skis broke the silence, leaving one local woman feeling "disgusted".
Nicole Ebert had been photographing a pair of whales right before the engine noise began. “It’s a really quiet area at 6.57 in the morning. It was bloody early for jet skis to be flying around,” she said.
“They stopped, and one pointed to the other that whales were there. Then they took off towards them.”
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Moments earlier the whales had ventured close to shore, swimming past Terrigal’s Skillion lookout during their annual migration. Under NSW law, personalised watercraft like the two Ebert saw must stay 300 metres away from whales.
Pictures supplied to Yahoo News show one of the jet ski riders with a wake behind him and a humpback in front of him.
From where Ebert stood, it appeared the jet skis were moving with the whales. “I was quite annoyed because every time the whales moved on, [it appeared] the jet skis went with them. It was utterly disgusting," she alleged
“They were extremely close,” Ebert said. Because she was looking into the sun, it was difficult for Ebert to get a good look at the riders. One was wearing all black and the other had a high-vis jacket.
Jet ski rider responds to whale incident
After publication of this article, one of the riders approached Yahoo News, wishing to give his side of Monday's incident. He knows jet skis can be controversial in Australia, but he claims to have done nothing wrong on Monday after spotting the whales.
"I was riding along, coming into Terrigal and spotted a whale, and let off the throttle to instantly de-accelerate. Then I turned off the ski," he said.
"I think my friend corrected his direction for no longer than three seconds and that's why you see the wake behind him. We didn't approach the whales at all."
The rider, who asked not to be identified, admitted there are some jet ski riders who do the wrong thing. And that was evident on Monday, with another man filmed with a drone appearing to approach one. But personally he claims to be always respectful of whale space.
"I don't condone anybody going towards whales or doing spins when they're there. But whales can be anywhere at any time. You simply don't know where they are," he said.
"It's like driving a car in a 40 zone, you do the right thing and a kid might just walk out in front of you."
Are jet skis a major problem in Australia?
The issue of noisy watercraft breaking the rules to get a better look at whales and dolphins is one that plagues most of Australia. In 2022, Victorian authorities issued a warning after speedboat operators filmed themselves almost hitting whales and then uploaded the footage to TikTok. And it's not just the wellbeing of whales that's put in danger, getting too close to a 40-tonne humpback can cause serious injury to humans.
Over the long weekend, several incidents involving jet skis were reported to ORRCA, a rescue organisation that works with NSW National Parks to respond to incidents involving marine mammals.
“At this time of year it’s very important to remember that a whale will likely be with a calf… “We want to hear about any incident that involves a marine mammal,” volunteer Craig Ryan said. When this is the case, all watercraft including boats must stay at least 300 metres away.
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What's the problem with jet skis getting too close to whales?
Whale expert Dr Vanessa Pirotta told Yahoo News incidents involving whales frequently occur during public holidays, when visitors who are unaware of the state’s strict regulations are more likely to be on the water.
The Macquarie University researcher warns jet skis pose increased risk to whales because of their fast and erratic movements. “They are highly manoeuvrable, and ensuring that these animals have safe passage along the humpback highway is critical,” she told Yahoo.
All marine mammals need physical space, but it’s not just what they can physically see that impacts their ability to navigate the ocean.
“Whales use sound to communicate, and if we make it too noisy then it reduces the acoustic space for them to talk to each other,” she said.
“A louder ocean is something that we know is happening and we know that's a problem for whales. The reality is, we can't stop all sound in the ocean, but we can try and minimise it.”
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