If I'm in his shoes, I'm doing EXACTLY what he did. If questioned about it, I'd say "Theres no way I could have helped. My presence would not have helped them. It would have only capsized my boat too, and put my crew in danger."

Of coarse, I'd never BE in his shoes. Because if someone asked me "Hey, do you want to go on a tiny boat, and look at whales?" My response would be "Fuck no! That sounds like a terrible idea."