The Reserve present at the RNF Congress in Banyuls

From April 10th to 13th, 2014, Guadeloupe welcomed more than 60 jet-skis for Karujet, an annual world championship that took place between Petit-Cul-de-Sac-Marin, Pointe-des-Châteaux and the Saintes. This popular nautical event enjoyed by a large public, can however have a significant impact on marine mammals that are very sensitive to noise and are slower than these motorized engines that risk hitting them. It is particularly dangerous for humpback whales that are in full breeding and calving season at the time of the race. As explained to us by Romain Renoux, in charge of managing the Agoa Sanctuary in Saint Martin, one of the roles of the sanctuary is to define recommendations to avoid disturbing or harassing marine mammals. In order to reduce the risks at hand and avoid accidents, the prefect of Guadeloupe obliged the organizer of Karujet to set up a system of aerial surveillance. The autogyro picked up humpback whales twice when flying over : a single whale just before the start of the race, and a group of three individuals, female, male and calf, on the last day at the end of the races. It was agreed that the start of the race would be delayed if any marine mammals were present on the circuit. Given the risks and the disturbance, the Protected Marine Areas Agency and CAR-SPAW recommend that in the future this stage of the World Jet-skiing Championships takes place when the humpback whales are not present.