Patricia Lamelas, director of the Center for the Conservation and Eco-development of the Bay of Samana (CEBSE) has complained that the Navy has been lax in enforcing the agreed-upon ruling for whale observation in Samana Bay. The ruling is in place in order to avoid harassment of the thousands of whales that come from the North Atlantic each winter to mate and give birth. Lamelas estimated the number of tourists who take excursions to watch the whales at 25,000-30,000. She complained that unauthorized speedboats are getting too close to the whales, in violation of the ruling, but that the Navy has not been available to police the area. Hoy newspaper reports that the violations are blatant. Last weekend, the Deputy Minister of Protected Areas of the Ministry of Environment Daneris Santana was able to see for himself several unauthorized boats with whale-watchers on board in violation of the ruling.
See http://dr1.com/travel/special/whales.shtml