Don't Be a Jerk To Whales, Ride Your PWCs Away From Them

Come on, folks.

By: Jonathon Klein

Oct 9, 2024 at 7:34am ET

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I can't believe I have to write this, but come on, folks, don't be jerks toward wildlife when you're out recreating.

No, this isn't another 'wolf-whacking' update, or one detailing what deer and elk hear when you're out UTV or ATVing. But rather a story of a pair of jet skiers out of Australia who happened to chase down a group of whales one early morning.

According to Yahoo News, a local amateur photographer had been snapping pics of the whales as they passed Terrigal’s Skillion, a small prometory along the whale's annual migration cooridor when she heard the sound of a pair of PWCs roar off. "It was bloody early for jet skis to be flying around," Nicole Ebert told the outlet, then adding, "They stopped, and one pointed to the other that whales were there. Then they took off towards them."

Ebert told the paper that the pair of riders went extremely close to the humpback whales as they swam near shore, and every time the whales moved on, the PWCs would follow at close range. This, however, under New South Wales' laws, is extremely illegal as boaters, PWCers, and others must stay 300 meters (nearly 1,000 feet) away from whales. Obviously, these riders aren't.

After the publication published the article, one of the riders reached out to the outlet to offer their side of the story. Something that doesn't exactly gel with the pictures supplied by Ebert.

"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," the man told Yahoo News, adding, "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."

But if you look at Ebert's pictures, the two riders are well within the 300 meters as dictated by law. There's one where a rider looks to be within 10 meters of the humpbacks, as they crest the water. So while their recollection of the event is all well and good, and they later go on to condone such irresponsible actions, the pictures of the two tell a vastly different story.

What do you think?

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Similar instances of riders coming into conflict with marine life have been recorded here in the United States, as dolphins, whales, and most of all manatees have been the topic of discussion for quite some time. Like Australia, it's illegal for folks to interact with manatees, but idiots, I mean, people, still do.

So what I'd like to convey with this article is, don't mess with sea life. In fact, don't mess with wild animals at all. That way you leave them in peace, you don't end up in jail or looking at a hefty fine, or end up on Tourons of Yellowstone, the latter of which will see you live in idiot infamy for ever and ever.