There are rules on the water when out watching wildlife.

Keep a safe distance. Don’t disturb their patterns or get into their path.

But a local whale expert says basic etiquette was broken when three people on two personal watercraft attempted to get “selfies” with about 10 orcas Friday, Oct. 6, off Huntington Beach.

Those accused say the moment captured in the images that have spread on social media show an inaccurate perspective, and they say they provide video to support their argument that they were an appropriate distance from the orcas.

Alisa Schulman-Janiger took photos of a man on a personal watercraft she said was too close and racing toward orcas, disturbing their behavior, last Friday off Huntington Beach. The operator denies the accusation, saying the perspective of the photo is misleading.

Alisa Schulman-Janiger took photos of a man on a personal watercraft she said was too close and racing toward orcas, disturbing their behavior, last Friday off Huntington Beach. The operator denies the accusation. The operator denies the accusation, saying the perspective of the photo is misleading.

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Alisa Schulman-Janiger took photos of a man on a personal watercraft she said was too close and racing toward orcas, disturbing their behavior, last Friday off Huntington Beach. The operator denies the accusation. The operator denies the accusation, saying the perspective of the photo is misleading.

Alisa Schulman-Janiger took photos of a man on a personal watercraft she said was too close and racing toward orcas, disturbing their behavior, last Friday off Huntington Beach. The operator denies the accusation, saying the perspective of the photo is misleading.

Alisa Schulman-Janiger took photos of a man on a personal watercraft she said was too close and racing toward orcas, disturbing their behavior, last Friday off Huntington Beach. The operator denies the accusation. The operator denies the accusation, saying the perspective of the photo is misleading. (Photo by Alisa Schulman-Janiger)



Orcas seen in screen capture from a video posted on Facebook by Bryce Trevett. (Screen Grab via Facebook, Video by Bryce Trevett )

Orcas seen in screen capture from a video posted on Facebook by Bryce Trevett. (Screen Grab via Facebook, Video by Bryce Trevett )

Alisa Schulman-Janiger, a researcher with the California Killer Whale Project, had just approached the pod when the trio on the watercrafts started chasing the whales for photos and getting too close, she said. Even before she arrived, she said, she had received texts from people on the water concerned with the jet skiers’ behavior.

Schulman-Janiger identified the pod as CA51 and CA216, which rarely visit the area, and said they disappeared within 15 minutes after the jet skiers “repeatedly harassed killer whales” and nearly ran them over two times “in their quest for selfies.”

Bryce Trevett, who filmed friend Angel Hernandez as he rode his watercraft near the orcas, said the long lens used to take the photo from a distance made it look like the orcas were directly under Hernandez’s watercraft.

He said video he took at that exact moment, however, shows the orcas about 20 yards away: https://www.facebook.com/bryce.trevett/videos/1472089742846407/

Schulman-Janiger said the video is further evidence of them being too close, with a shot of a whale right next to the watercraft.

“We’ve been working with wildlife our entire lives. We’re not some yahoos out there trying to get selfies and trying to disrespect the animals to get the shots,” he said. “I know how to work closely with wildlife — in the field with wildlife — and I know how to do it without disrespecting. I know how to tell if they were scared — we would totally have backed off.”

He said they cut their engines and the orcas went under their skis on their own.

“They kept coming up to us, jumping into our wakes,” he said. “There were times we’d back off and they’d come back for us.”

Schulman-Janiger said she has filed an official complaint with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

It’s not the first time frustration has been expressed about humans getting too close to nature out in the water. In December, the operator of a small boat who gunned his engine as orcas traveled below, and a man on a personal watercraft who punched the gas to get up close for images, came under fire by local whale watching charter operators angered by their actions.

Dale Frink, a longtime whale watching photographer, said he observed the interaction Friday and described it as “reckless and dangerous.” Frink said it’s part of a trend of people trying to get close to animals for selfies, which has a negative impact on the wildlife.

“People don’t realize the wild animals don’t want them in their grills,” he said. “The selfie trend isn’t going away any time soon, this guy is just adding fuel to the fire.”

He said it wasn’t so much how close the watercraft operators were to the animals, but more about how they did it — driving at high speed and intercepting their course to get close to them.

“He maybe wasn’t acting out of malice, but he was definitely acting out of ignorance,” Frink said. “He should apologize and never do it again.”

According to NOAA, it is illegal to harass marine mammals in the wild under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

“Harassment means any act of pursuit, torment, or annoyance that has the potential to injure a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild (Level A harassment); or that has the potential to disturb a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild by causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but not limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering, but does not have the potential to injure a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild (Level B harassment),” reads the NOAA website.

It advises observing wild dolphins, porpoises, and seals from safe distances of at least 50 yards by land or sea and large whales from a distance of at least 100 yards.

Earlier this year, in a video that went viral, Trevett documented helping a sea turtle that was entangled by a helium balloon. He said he posts his videos on Instagram with the purpose of inspiring people.

“It doesn’t have to be a battlefield out there — there can be different conservation groups out there,” he said. “A picture can tell a thousand words, but the video tells a lot more. … it’s just a matter of perspective.”