Welcome to the Boater Safety Course!
Thank you for taking this extra step to ensure the safety of yourself, your passengers, and whales while at sea. Accidental collisions with whales can be dangerous for everyone involved and result in costly repairs to your boat. In this short, voluntary course, we’ve outlined key things to know before heading out on the water that will help you avoid dangerous situations altogether, get yourself out of a dangerous situation if you are suddenly in one, and take an active role in supporting conservation efforts for marine life.
By the end of the course you will be able to:
- Use Available resources to prepare for a trip at sea
- Identify commonly seen whale species and marine mammals of the west coast, and be familiar with some of their natural behaviors.
- Put safe whale watching guidelines to practice while at sea
- Know what to document and who to call if you encounter a whale in distress
- Share what you’ve learned with other boaters
This course can be viewed on a variety of mobile devices. It is divided into four lessons with quick assessments along the way.
Key features that will help you throughout this course:
- Go at your own pace! Once you sign in, you can leave and return to the course at any point via https://seeaspout.org/login/
- Track your progress: A progress bar across the top of the screen will allow you to see how much of the course remains.
- Use the “Mark Complete” button at the bottom of each page to continue to the next topic.
- If you skip around to the different lessons, you can track which ones you still need to complete in the course outline along the left sidebar.
- You’ll be able to download and share a certificate of completion once you’ve finished.
This course is brought to you by the team at See A Spout? Watch Out! West Coast, a collaborative and national effort to support safe boating and marine mammals. This course is brought to you by NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuary, The Marine Mammal Center, Santa Barbara Whale Heritage Area for the adaptation of this course, and we are appreciative of our East Coast partners for the creation of See a Spout: Whale and Dolphin Conservation, NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Audubon Society of Rhode Island, and New Bedford Whaling Museum.
You’ll find the course outline below. Select the first lesson to get started!