Legal distance rules for blue whale watching photography
7 Answers from travellers
Under Sri Lankan Coast Guard and DWC regulations, boats must stay 100 meters away from a whale, reduce speed to a no-wake crawl, and approach parallel to the whale, NEVER from behind or head-on. A 70-200mm or 100-400mm lens is perfect, as blue whales are massive. Do not support boats that chase them closer than 100m.
I went on a cheap boat and they chased a whale until it dove deep to escape. It was horrible to watch.
Leave a terrible TripAdvisor review if they break the rules. It hurts their business.
I will book with Raja and the Whales, they seem to follow the rules.
Absolutely not. Drones are strictly banned over marine mammals. It distresses them severely.
If your boat breaks the rules, take a photo of the registration number and report them to the Coast Guard.
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