Members of the A5 pod of northern resident killer whales arrive with a newborn in the Brighton Archipelago of British Columbia for the first time in about 20 years.A Vancouver-based film company and its drone operator have been fined a total of $30,000 for operating a drone too close to northern resident killer whales.
It says River Road Films pleaded guilty in July to unlawfully capturing footage by operating too close to a pod of whales “beach rubbing” on Vancouver Island. The fisheries department says the film company was ordered to pay $25,000 and prohibited from using or distributing the drone footage, while the operator was fined $5,000.
It says drones can disturb marine mammals, and it’s illegal to fly a drone over the animals below a minimum height of about 304 metres.