In terms of marine mammals, which action is explicitly described as harassment?

• A. Feeding or following marine mammals
• B. Photographing from a distance
• C. Observing without approaching
• D. Reporting sightings

Answer: (D)

Harassment means any action that disturbs a marine mammal’s natural behavior or welfare. In this item, the action described as harassment is reporting sightings because telling others where a mammal was seen can lead crowds to the animal, causing crowding, noise, and repeated disturbances that stress the animal or disrupt feeding, resting, or other natural activities. The other options represent less intrusive or routine monitoring actions—photographing from a distance, observing without approaching, and reporting sightings through proper channels in a controlled way—though generally you’d still want to minimize disturbance. The key point here is that drawing attention to the animal and creating potential crowds is treated as harassment in this context.