{"id":15453,"date":"2026-05-10T21:04:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T21:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/10\/jet-ski-rental-business-denies-any-encroachment-on-wildlife-refuge-orilliamatters-com\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T21:04:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T21:04:23","slug":"jet-ski-rental-business-denies-any-encroachment-on-wildlife-refuge-orilliamatters-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/10\/jet-ski-rental-business-denies-any-encroachment-on-wildlife-refuge-orilliamatters-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Jet-ski rental business denies any encroachment on 'wildlife refuge' – OrilliaMatters.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

The owner of a jet-ski rental company docked on the south shore of Kempenfelt Bay in Barrie has clapped back against concerns raised by residents<\/a> who say the operation is disrupting local wildlife.
Organizers of a petition with hundreds of signatures say they are attempting to protect Kempenfelt Bay waterfowl from their perceived disruption by adjacent docks run by Barrie Watersports, which rents jet-skis, jet boats, pontoon boats and more.
Nestled between the Tiffin Boat Launch and the <\/a>Rotary Islands and connected to shore by a wooden dock, Barrie Watersports has approval from the City of Barrie for what was a commercial motorized watercraft pilot project<\/a> last summer.
“It's not a bird sanctuary. It's not federally or provincially recognized as such,” Barrie Watersports owner Shawn Talbot said of the island area.
He also responded to the petition and its organizers. 
“Unfortunately, it’s doing reputational harm to our business by not being accurate,” Talbot added.
“We've got unanimous council member approval for this location,” he said. “And we only recommended that location because we wanted to protect the boaters that were inside the (City of Barrie Marina) because you're using novice riders.”
The Wasaga Beach-based company floated in essentially the same spot for the past two summers, after it mysteriously appeared on the bay<\/a> in June 2024.
Recently, the petition, titled Relocate Barrie Watersports Jet Ski Rental<\/a>, appeared online. As of Friday, the petition was listed as “closed’ and had 581 signatures.
The petition organizers have said Rotary Islands was created by the Rotary Club of Barrie as a "wildlife refuge."
“Since the arrival of the jet-ski rentals in 2024, there has been a significant decrease in the bird population. Our aim is to have this business moved to a more appropriate location," it says. 
Talbot says there's nothing that restricts a motorized vessel within the island area.
“If you go and buy a jet-ski today … and you go rip it around and you want to cruise right through that area, you are not breaking provincial or federal or municipal law,” he said. “And that’s not us. You have to abide by the Transport Canada regulations.
"Our equipment is governed to restrict your throttle until you're 300 feet out … we are not the general public. We are not ripping through there,” Talbot added.
Talbot says people do not understand how many people use paddle boards and kayaks through the area in question.
“Everybody is part of nature, like those people that have kayaks and they're paddling through there at their own meandering pace," he said. "I truly don't think they're interfering with the bird sanctuary. If it was, then federal and provincial barriers would be there.”
The Rotary Islands —<\/em> Allandale Station Park’s main attraction for birds, fish and other lakeside critters —<\/em> was an environment enhancement project by the Rotary Club of Barrie and the city. It was completed in 2000.
To offset deterioration of shoreline habitat in Kempenfelt Bay, the city and Rotary members worked alongside the Ministry of Natural Resources to create a functional habitat restoration project.
Members of the citizens group who created the petition say they have observed a decline in wildlife during the summer while the jet-ski operation is in full swing.
They claim that noise, vibration, fuel and wave action have negatively affected fish spawning and recently, for the first time, cormorants were sitting on the dock.
City of Barrie communications manager Scott LaMantia provided more details on May 1 about the dock business and its operation<\/a>.
"The agreement with the operator indicates that their dock must be approximately 75 feet away from Rotary Island and that no motorized vessels are permitted on the right side of the dock and\/or near Rotary Island," he said.
"Staff are working with the operator to ensure there are no impacts to the wildlife in the area," LaMantia added.
Meanwhile, the rental company is downplaying residents' concerns.
“There’s no poking fingers in anyone's eye,” Talbot said. “It's just a matter of identifying that this is not a provincial or federally identified bird sanctuary, and we appreciate and respect the nature of Barrie and the residents of Barrie, and this is a pilot project that is specifically there to be a proof of concept.”
 
If you would like to apply to become a <\/i> Verified Commenter<\/b>, please fill out this form<\/a>.
More Spotlight ><\/a>
© 2026 OrilliaMatters.com<\/p>\n

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The owner of a jet-ski rental company docked on the south shore of Kempenfelt Bay in Barrie has clapped back against concerns raised by residents who say the operation is disrupting local wildlife.Organizers of a petition with hundreds of signatures say they are attempting to protect Kempenfelt Bay waterfowl from their perceived disruption by adjacent docks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}