I believe you to be right that it is illegal to get so close to whales. He will probably be investigated and jailed for his efforts. Nice video; didn't appreciate the shameless plug for the cam though.

It's only illegal to get close to whales with a motorized boat. If there is no motor what's the harm?

While there may be laws regarding proximity to other types of whales, it's on the Right or humpback whales that are protected for proximity that I'm aware of. Being a merchant seaman, I can tell you that we're very regulated where humpbacks are concerned. For me, that's a good thing.

Here is the California Fish and Wildlife statute, it mirrors the federal law. Attempts to pursue and overtake marine mammals is a violation, this man will likely be having conversations with both California and federal wardens.

California Endangered Species Act (CESA)
State Laws, Regulations and Policy for the Incidental Take of State LIsted Species under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA)

Section 2080 of the Fish and Game Code prohibits "take" of any species that the commission determines to be an endangered species or a threatened species. Take is defined in Section 86 of the Fish and Game Code as "hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill, or attempt to hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill."

I kayak in Florida and it is illegal to tamper with Manatees. That doesn't keep them from coming up to your kayak though. They are very curious and playful. I imagine the whales enjoy the encounters with friendly humans.

Not sure who got close to who here.

Is that all you came up with after watching that amazing experience?

So these whales are feeding off the coast and kayakers are out there pestering Moby Dick. Maybe put a flotation device on the camera so as it goes through the whale's elementary canal it will float so we can recovery the footage as the kayaker is ingested....Al-