The water in front of Jay Beedle’s remote beachfront property often looks like a classroom poster of Southeast Alaska marine life: humpback whales bubblenet feed, sea lions chase salmon and orcas hunt in pods.<\/p>\n
It’s a view Beedle cherishes, but one he says gets crowded. During the summer months, he’s seen as many as 20 whale watching boats hover around groups of humpback whales.<\/p>\n
“We’re just incredibly lucky that these are tolerant whales,” Beedle said. He likened it to a kind of gold rush, which seems to him has gotten out of hand.<\/p>\n
Humpback whale populations in Juneau have increased to historic numbers in recent years, with whale watching tour operators seemingly multiplying just as fast. Enforcement officers and researchers are still adapting to the new boon.<\/p>\n
The North Pacific stock of humpbacks, which populates Juneau, has grown at an astonishing rate of 7 percent a year. Ninety-five percent of Juneau’s humpbacks are from a population segment which has been taken off the endangered species list, according to University of Alaska Southeast marine biologist Heidi Pearson.<\/p>\n
In the capital city, whale watching has exploded to an estimated $35 million industry, a 2015 McDowell Group report shows. Approximately 60 tour boats will ply the waters near Juneau this year. The exact number is hard to pin down because some boats are multi-purpose, only pursuing whales when requested by clients.<\/p>\n
About one-quarter of the city’s more than 1 million predicted cruise ship visitors will embark on some kind of whale watching activity, the McDowell Group study indicates.<\/p>\n
Whale watching is an industry that has its detractors. Local fishermen and recreational boat owners have long complained that tour boats aren’t operating safely or respecting marine mammals’ space.<\/p>\n
But tour companies, operators and NOAA law enforcement have been working together to regulate an industry which depends largely on self-regulation.<\/p>\n
Don’t get too close<\/span><\/p>\n Federal guidelines do not allow boaters to come within 100 yards of humpback whales or to approach them from head on.<\/p>\n Enforcing these rules in Juneau is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s Robert Marvelle. During the cruise ship season, Marvelle and another NOAA officer patrol once or twice a week to make sure tour boats follow protective species law.<\/p>\n He said compliance from commercial operations has improved in his decade working in Juneau. He now receives more complaints about recreational boaters coming too close to marine mammals, he said.<\/p>\n Nobody wanted to talk to law enforcement when Marvelle first came to Juneau in 2007, he said. Now he works hand-in-hand with operators, attending meetings and “stomping the docks” to develop a repertoire with captains and naturalists.<\/p>\n “The compliance rate is actually very good in Juneau,” Marvelle said. He credits this to increased communication between tour operators and law enforcement.<\/p>\n “That whole perception of, ‘Oh, that’s the cops, we don’t want to talk to them’ has gone away. … It’s come completely full circle that they’re not afraid to talk to us.”<\/p>\n Serene Hutchison, owner of Juneau Whale Watch, agrees that things have gotten better lately. Her company, which operates five boats and will soon launch a sixth, was fined $12,000 in 2015, according to reports from Alaska Public Media.<\/p>\n She told APM at the time that the fines were an “eye-opening experience.”<\/p>\n One of her boats had violated the 100-yard rule, and off-duty employees had been seen paddleboarding near a humpback whale and her calf.<\/p>\n