The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is investigating after a person driving a jet ski struck a grey whale off Vancouver.
Witnesses along Vancouver’s seawall saw the collision unfold in the water near Siwash Rock in Stanley Park around 7:30 p.m. PT on Monday.
“It was coming at great speed in between the sailboats and the shoreline again,” Savage said. “The whale surfaced and the [jet ski] collided with the whale.”
He watched and said the person was “thrown” from the jet ski and heard him calling for help.
I know that area, that part just outside Stanley Park, Vancouver’s landmark urban park, isn’t really a place meant for jetskiing. It’s not disallowed, and rich people own marina mooring spots around there, but it is a sign of someone who is very inconsiderate of the people around them, including people enjoying the walk and bike around Stanley Park.
I seem to remember the speed limit changing once you get under the bridge. Not to marina-slow kind of speed, but I thought it dropped there. You tend not to see people going through there at speed anyway and it’s definitely a point where you need to be careful of wildlife and other things in the water. I don’t think there was any intent in hitting the whale, but reckless to be ripping through that area at that speed repeatedly.