Harass an orca? Not in San Juan County

ANACORTES, Wash., May 16 (UPI) -- Officials in San Juan County, Wash., took steps this week to prevent locals and tourists from harassing the area's abundant killer whale population.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer said after countless individuals disrupted the typically peaceful marine mammals, officials decided to lay down the law.

The county's local council voted unanimously Tuesday for an ordinance that would allow Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officers to limit disruptive practices.

"All this time we've really been without any horsepower as far as enforcement unless we can show harassment of the orcas," Fish and Wildlife official Russ Mullins said, "and that's extremely difficult when you can't talk to the whale and say, 'Do you feel harassed?'"

Regional orca tourists also may soon face a federal crackdown as well, the newspaper said, as the whales have come under the protection of the Endangered Species Act.