Garmin 7212: Turning off Sonar while whale watching?

[asm777]

Was reading somewhere about whale watching best practices and one item mentioned was to turn off sonar.

So have been wondering if there is a way to turn off sonar via Garmin 7212 chartplotter.

Have looked through the menus and there just doesn't seem to be a "Disable Sonar" option, only a "Pause Sonar" option. And pausing seems to only stop the screen scrolling but continues to operate sonar as the depth number continues to update.

Any thoughts?

 

[BradOwens]

Shutting down the engine and drifting for a while will stop the depth finder, stop engine noise, and eliminate the danger of injury from the prop. It will also make it easier for those on board to hear whale song.

 

[Chimo]

I agree with Brad about shutting down engine and drifting. Remember to shut down your Garmin system as well. You don't need it when drifting in water deep enough for whales. If shutting engine down is not possible for safety reasons then just shut down the Garmin.

 

[asm777]

We shut off engine and drift but wanting to turn off sonar as well since Garmin chartplotter isn't linked to engine status.

Does turning off the chartplotter turn off the sonar? Wondering if the sonar just stays on as long as battery switches are on? Radar for example needs to be activated to work and is "off" by default whereas sonar seems to be "on" by default.

Somewhat related, the Garmin autopilot stays on if engaged even if the displays are powered down which leads me to wonder whether sonar actually turns off just because chartplotter is off?