Peter Hamilton, founder of Lifeforce Foundation, says he has videotapes of tour operators getting too close to whales, or repeatedly racing ahead of whales and cutting them off.
He radioed to an offending boat and got no response, until the captain turned the boat directly at him and nearly ran him down.
“You think if they treat people like that, you wonder how they treat the animals,” Hamilton says.

PETER HAMILTON/LIFEFORCE COURTESY PHOTO
Southern community orcas rise out of the water in Haro Strait just off San Juan Island near Lime Kiln Point State Park. A whale watching boat floats in the background.