Diver Who Swam Too Close to Orca Pod Handed Biggest Fine on Record

A scuba diver has been fined a record 12,000 Canadian dollars ($9,250) for getting too close to a group of killer whales near Prince Rupert Harbour, in British Columbia, Canada.

The diver, Thomas Gould, "knowingly interacted" with a pod of seven Northern resident killer whales in the area in April 2020, according to the department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).

Judge Jeffrey Campbell handed down the largest ever fine for an offense of this kind in July after Gould was found to have broken Section 7 of the Marine Mammal Regulations, part of Canada's Fisheries Act.

In British Columbia, vessels must keep at least 650 feet away from killer whales, and in southern B.C. coastal waters between Campbell River and just north of Ucluelet, vessels must keep 1,300 feet away. According to Canada's Marine Mammal Regulations, it is also illegal to swim, dive or interact with marine mammals.

According to Canada's DFO, the pod of orcas involved in the incident has been returning to the Prince Rupert area every year for at least 10 years, to the point that signs have been put up warning boaters to keep well clear.

Evidence was found that Gould's dive vessel had tried to "leap-frog" the orca pod, attempting to motor ahead several times, it said. Gould, in full dive gear, was also found to have entered the water twice close to the killer whales.

"Watching whales and other marine mammals in their natural surroundings gives Canadians an opportunity to better appreciate these beautiful animals, but when humans get too close, we risk disturbing and even harming them," the DFO said in a statement.

Orcas are the largest members of the dolphin family, and can grow to lengths of up to 30 feet. They are protected under the Species At Risk Act and the Marine Mammal Regulations of Canada's Fisheries Act in Canada, but they have seen population declines in recent years, mostly due to lack of food, prey contamination with chemicals, oil spills, sound pollution, and ship strikes.

There are several culturally and genetically distinct populations of orcas living in the waters off Canada, including the Northern and Southern residents, the offshore, and the transient populations.

The Northern resident orca population stays between Vancouver Island to southeast Alaska. As of 2017, there were only 300 whales in this population, having seen a decline in population size of 7 percent between 1997 and 2001. In the Southern resident population, which is usually found near Puget Sound, there have only been between 70 to 99 individuals since 1976.

This steep fine for Gould comes as part of Fisheries and Oceans Canada's measures to preserve and restore orca populations, which also include ensuring that resident orcas have enough food to allow recovery, and that chemical and biological pollutants do not prevent this recovery.