Nice! If you were that close to whales in Puget Sound you'd be busted! LOL Others here know the details I'm sure, but you're required by law to maintain certain distance from whales (although I think it's okay if they swim right up to you).
Common misconception that there is an official distance you need to stay from whales in the US (with 2 exceptions, 1 of which matters for Puget Sound).
The overriding law is the
Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), enforced by NOAA. There is no required distances listed in the act. It just says you can't "take" a marine mammal. It defines the term “take” to mean to harass, hunt, capture, or kill, or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine mammal. It then defines the term “harassment” to mean any act of pursuit, torment, or annoyance which— (i) has the potential to injure a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild; or (ii) has the potential to disturb a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild by causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but not limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering. The risk we have when whale watching is that we have that level ii harassment by disrupting its behavior.
There are guidelines put out by NOAA. For example,
https://farallones.noaa.gov/eco/whales/federal-laws-protecting-marine-mammals.html says “NOAA generally advises not approaching whales closer than 300 ft.” Note the words "advises", not required. So long as you don't change the whale's behavior you shouldn't have done anything wrong under the law.
The exception for Puget Sound is a
WA state law for the Southern Resident Killer Whales which
requires 1000 yard distance. There are other ecotypes of killer whales in the area which the law wouldn't apply to (so would be back to the MMPA requirements), but few would be able to tell them apart at 1000 yards, so you pretty much have to treat all orcas as requiring 1000 yards.
The other exception rule is for the North Atlantic Right Whale, which has a 500 yard distance requirement, along with speed limit requirements for lager boats during certain seasons, gear restrictions for lobster traps, and the like.
Of course, these are the rules which you need to follow to avoid getting cited. Doesn't mean you should go as close as you are legally allowed to.
From what I have seen (not having looked into it as closely), Canada's rules are similar (including a special rules for Southern Resident Orcas), but not exactly the same.
