Six people, including a man in his 30s, have been arrested by the coast guard for driving a jet ski off the coast of Jeju Island and getting too close to a group of southern bottlenose dolphins, a protected marine species.
The Seogwipo Coast Guard Station said today (Nov. 21) that it is investigating the six men for disrupting the movement of a pod of dolphins by coming within 10 meters of the southern bottlenose dolphins on jet skis without observing the regulated speed at around 5 p.m. yesterday (Nov. 20) in the waters around Sindopo-gu, Seogwipo City.
The six individuals are believed to have disrupted the dolphin pod’s migration by riding on six separate jet skis.
One of the six jet skis that threatened a pod of southern bottlenose dolphins.〈Image=Provided by Seogwipo Marine Police Station
The coast guard, which responded to the scene after receiving a report, found the six jet skis traveling toward Mosul Port and arrested all six, including a man in his 30s, for violating the Marine Ecosystem Act.
Designated as a marine protected species in 2012, the southern bottlenose dolphin is a marine mammal that can be observed year-round off the coast of Jeju Island, where an estimated 110 individuals currently live.
The Marine Ecosystem Act stipulates that when attempting to observe marine protected species, it is not permitted to interfere with their migration or feeding activities메이저놀이터.
Therefore, vessels observing southern bottlenose dolphins must reduce their speed to 10 knots or less when they are between 750 meters and 1.5 kilometers from the dolphins, and to 5 knots or less when they are between 300 meters and 750 meters from the dolphins.
Within 300 meters, the vessel’s screw must be stopped, and the vessel must not approach within a 50-meter radius of the dolphin.
Violators will be fined up to 2 million won.
“This is the first case to be caught under the law, which has been in effect since April 19,” said an official from the Seogwipo Coast Guard. “If you witness any violations, please join us in protecting dolphins by reporting them to the coast guard immediately.”