Boating with whales safely

NY State Department of Environmental ConservationView attachment 107849ma

The Fall Run off New York’s coast is some of the best fishing on the East coast with great oppur-tuna-ties to catch striped bass, false albacore, and more! While targeting these species anglers have to be wary of more than swinging hooks and fish spines.

Whales, Dolphins, and Seals often feed alongside our favorite sport fish taking advantage of an abundance of sand eels and Atlantic menhaden they snack on. An increase in these species locally during our prime fishing season increases the risk of negative boat and marine mammal interactions. Improperly boating near marine mammals can cause a myriad of issues, destroyed boats, injured boaters, hefty fines, and often injured wildlife.

There are ways to protect yourself, your property and our finned friends!
🛥️ Keep an eye out for blowhole spouts, bubble rings, and dorsal fins these are sure signs of marine mammals
🛥️ Maintaining proper (legal) distances from marine mammals while under power there are federal laws to protect them
🛥️ Drive around schools of forage fish not into them. Whales can spend a long time underwater and may not be visible as you approach schools of fish

Makomatt ,,,,,,,,,,,,well blow me down 🐳 ,,,,,😛😎😉 ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,><))))*>
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NY State Department of Environmental Conservation[ATTACH type="full" alt="IMG_0807.webp"]107849[/ATTACH]

The Fall Run off New York’s coast is some of the best fishing on the East coast with great oppur-tuna-ties to catch striped bass, false albacore, and more! While targeting these species anglers have to be wary of more than swinging hooks and fish spines.

Whales, Dolphins, and Seals often feed alongside our favorite sport fish taking advantage of an abundance of sand eels and Atlantic menhaden they snack on. An increase in these species locally during our prime fishing season increases the risk of negative boat and marine mammal interactions. Improperly boating near marine mammals can cause a myriad of issues, destroyed boats, injured boaters, hefty fines, and often injured wildlife.

There are ways to protect yourself, your property and our finned friends!
🛥️ Keep an eye out for blowhole spouts, bubble rings, and dorsal fins these are sure signs of marine mammals
🛥️ Maintaining proper (legal) distances from marine mammals while under power there are federal laws to protect them
🛥️ Drive around schools of forage fish not into them. Whales can spend a long time underwater and may not be visible as you approach schools of fish

Related:

Mariner Engagement Survey
DEC’s Divion of Marine Resources is a supporting party to a survey effort led by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division.

The survey aims to learn more about the communications preferences of boaters as we collectively work to improve outreach about the presence of whales in coastal waters and boater safety.

The survey will take about 10 minutes. Your participation is voluntary and anonymous, and you can stop responding at any time. Please click the link to take the survey.

Thanks, I took the survey.

Thanks, I took the survey.

Me too. I also put in a plug for NYAngler.com as an information source.

Me too. I also put in a plug for NYAngler.com as an information source.

Ditto that