Last modified: 2019-08-01 by rick wyatt
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image by Ivan Sache, 23 June 2018
See also:
Airfield Vehicle Flag - Square, at least 3 x 3 feet, with an orange-and-white checkerboard pattern, to mark vehicles operating on airfields. [This flag is also used to mark temporary hazards to aviation, such as high construction cranes.]
Source: Army Regulation 840-10.
Joe McMillan, 27 May 2000
This is the international airports flag and not only the U.S. one.
Dov Gutterman, 28 May 2000
Airfield safety flags are used for marking construction vehicles and jobsite obstructions / hazards at airports.
Flags are recommended for use with the following site conditions:
San Juan County staff, the Marine Resources Committee, Soundwatch, Pacific
Whale Watch Association, local Whale researchers, law enforcement, and
interested citizen whale stewards are teaming up on a study that will pilot the
use of a Whale Warning Flag throughout the county. The flag serves as a safety
notification to other boaters on the water that whales are around.
The
flag was first introduced around Northern Vancouver Island by the North Island
Marine Mammal Stewardship Association as a means of addressing the growing
number of hazardous interactions between boats and humpback whales. This summer
the same flag design will be used in a bid to promote and strengthen a
consistent message of safe boater behavior around whales throughout British
Columbia and Washington waters.
This year, 500 flags will be proved to
trained boat captains, including whale watch, research and enforcement boats, as
well as committed “whale steward” citizens and organizations with boats. Larger
flags will be flown from land-based sites on the west side of San Juan Island
such as the San Juan County Park, Lime Kiln Point State Park and the San Juan
County Land Bank.
Flags will only be raised if whales are within 0.65
miles (1 km) of a boat or land-based site and will be taken down as soon as the
boat or whales have moved out of the area.
The flag operates the same way
as a diver-down flag. It notifies boaters that whales are in the area letting
them know they should slow down and proceed with caution so they can comply with
the “Be Whale Wise” guidelines and the laws.
[...]
For those on land
wanting to launch, like kayakers and paddlers, the land-flags give additional
warning that they should delay launching until the flag has been lowered.
[...]
http://www.sanjuanjournal.com/news/san-juan-county-launches-whale-warning-flags-to-protect-local-whales/
The Journal of he San Juan Islands, 22 June 2018
Additional sources:
Official announcement and guidelines by the San Juan County Marine Resources
Committee:
http://www.sjcmrc.org/other-content/whale-warning-flag/
Official
announcement and guidelines by NOAA Fisheries / West Coast Region:
http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/stories/2018/25_05252018_whale_watching_regs.html
Dedicated website on Southern Residents killer whales,
http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/protected_species/marine_mammals/killer_whale/
Ivan Sache, 23 June 2018