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U.S. environmental groups have proposed a 25-square-kilometre “protection zone” to prevent endangered southern resident killer whales from being disturbed by motorized vessels off Washington state’s San Juan Island in Haro Strait.

The petition to the National Marine Fisheries Service was filed on Friday by Orca Relief Citizens’ Alliance, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Project Seawolf.

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The protection zone would prohibit private and commercial motorized vessels engaged in whale watching from April 1 to Sept. 30. A no-wake policy would apply to vessels simply transiting the zone.

The west side of San Juan Island is a hub of whale-watching activity for both U.S. and Canadian companies in summer.

Currently, vessels in Washington are required to stay at least 200 yards from the whales and cannot park in their path, within 400 yards ahead of their line of travel. Vessels are asked to keep 100 metres from the whales in Canadian waters. Environmental groups are concerned that noise and disturbance from motorized vessels are harming the whales’ ability to feed and socialize. Pollution and lack of chinook salmon are other problems.

lpynn@postmedia.com