A park board commissioner tells 1130 NewsRadio that the committee is debating introducing a motion, limiting jet ski access in English Bay.
The push comes after a Jet Skier collided with a whale in the waters near Vancouver’s Stanley Park on Monday.
A video of the incident shows that the whale suddenly crests the water’s surface to breathe as the Jet Skier approaches at high speed, slamming into the animal’s back and flying off the vehicle.
Commissioner Tom Digby says that the incident stirred up concerns around water safety, for humans and animals alike.
“The commissioners, many of them are outraged at hearing what happened,” he told 1130 NewsRadio.
The federal Department of Fisheries has launched an investigation into the incident.
The committee is now questioning whether jet ski rental companies pay enough attention to the rules and advise their customers thoroughly about what to do when encountering whales and other marine wildlife.
“You have to stay 100 meters away from any identified whales; you can only go 10 kilometres an hour when you are within 30 meters of the shoreline,” Digby said, mentioning examples.
“We want to make sure that any rental agencies are definitely enforcing those and making the users fully aware of what those rules are.”
He says that many of those rules are difficult to enforce and adds that there are also safety issues around jet skis being used too close to swimming areas, such as along Spanish Banks.
According to Digby, the presence of whales and other animals has increased in English Bay, which requires water sport users to become more careful.
“I also see the starfish are coming back after years of absence. So, we are getting more and more life in our harbours, and I think the boat traffic and the jet skis are going to have to correspondingly improve their behaviour in order to be authorized there.”
He admits that a local park board does not have much power in the harbour as it is officially under the jurisdiction of Transport Canada and the Coast Guard.
However, the shoreline is administered by the park board.
“A lot of those rentals and ownership facilities and launch ramps are on Park Board property, and we are thinking about increasing restrictions,” Digby explained.
The earliest opportunity for commissioners to vote on such a motion is June 1, the next scheduled meeting.