Attacked by an Orca near A Coruna

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

An interesting comment about far more fishing boats , and less/no "attacks" on fishing boats.

We know in South Africa that feeding monkeys and baboons does lead to aggressive actions when they come used to having food given to then and when food i not attacks take place.

If the orca's have become used to getting food from the local fishing boats and mistake a yacht to a fishing boat where the crew do not have any fish or fish entrails to thrown overboard the orcas feed on could be a cause of these actions.

It's not a totally daft suggestion. My puppy knows to give me a couple of nudges with his nose or rest his chin heavily on my leg if I'm eating, even though he's never been fed 'human' food. It's to remind me that he's there, just in case there's anything going spare. That's seemingly there from birth, but the Orcas could easily learn it if they've been fed by a particular boat or even fleet.

 

[Danny_Labrador]

Killer whales launch ‘orchestrated’ attacks on sailing boats

 

[xyachtdave]

Killer whales launch ‘orchestrated’ attacks on sailing boats

As if we didn’t have enough to worry about with Covid 19 and Brexit, bloody killer whales on the hunt for boats with vulnerable spade hung rudders!

 

[webcraft]

As if we didn’t have enough to worry about with Covid 19 and Brexit, bloody killer whales on the hunt for boats with vulnerable spade hung rudders!

Are they definitely leaving long keel hung rudder MABs alone?

Phew!

- W

 

[laika]

New and longer article in the graun:
'I've never seen or heard of attacks': scientists baffled by orcas harassing boats

This jumped out at me:

Meanwhile, Nick Irving from Reliance is wondering if he should send clients’ boats out after the last three sustained damage: “Is it reckless?”

So he won't be pressuring skippers to go out against their better judgement if their concern is orcas???

 

[TNLI]

We were on a yacht delivery from Tenerife to the UK. We had a quick stop in A Coruna and a few hours out were attacked by an Orca. We didn't see him at first - the rudder was just being hit and the wheel was being forced to turn. It was impossible to keep a straight course and the yacht was forced round in a circle. The rudder was rammed around 15 times and then he swam away. We were left with no steerage and had to be towed back into port by the coastguard. It all happened at around 1230 yesterday. No one was hurt, but it was a VERY scary experience. Be careful if you are in the area. He attacked us again when we were in tow!

Here is a short video that we just about managed to get before he swam away.

Pete

It's very rare for a yacht to be attacked by a whale outside of the main breeding/feeding areas like the ones off the Azores and Galapagos islands. Collisions en route are more common, mostly caused by too high a speed. Sailing faster than the migration speed is Iffy and that is only around 5 knots. It also helps in risk reduction terms to run the main engine or generator, as migrating whales do not transmit, they just receive in echo location terms.
Trying to whale watch under sail at high speed is probably the worst move.

Why did the rudder fail ??

 

[webcraft]

Was the pod involved in the La Coruna incident migrating Northwards, I. E. Was it the same pod that attacked yachts further South?

Were the yachts involved under sail or motor?

Why do the orcas seem to be particularly targeting yachts on delivery? (Reliance and Halcyon)

Did all the yachts involved have a particular rudder configuration?

A lot of unanswered questions that are of particular interest to those of us currently sailing in Galician and Portuguese waters.

- W

 

[laika]

Was the pod involved in the La Coruna incident migrating Northwards, I. E. Was it the same pod that attacked yachts further South?

Were the yachts involved under sail or motor?

Why do the orcas seem to be particularly targeting yachts on delivery? (Reliance and Halcyon)

The Guardian articles linked above are surprisingly free from the normal journo boat story errors and are worth a read, particularly the one I posted above which is more detailed than the earlier one. There is speculation it's the same pod but no mention of "migration": I've not been able to find links to whether or whither the straits orcas migrate. Link also says 2 yachts were motorsailing, one motoring, one unspecified but had sails up. Delivery yachts weren't the only ones affected.

 

[capnsensible]

I have just received a video from a friend of mine on a yacht being attacked by an Orca. This was very recent. The yacht is a Jenneau 389 operated by a sailing school in Gib. They were off Barbatte at the western end of the Straits of Gibraltar. The animal is very aggressive, not playtime. Once back in port, the boat was inspected by diver and there are teeth marks in the rudder.
Spooky.
Oh, and swearing at a whale doesn't put it off it seems.....

 

[GHA]

There is speculation it's the same pod but no mention of "migration": I've not been able to find links to whether or whither the straits orcas migrate.

Talk of it in here > Scientists baffled by orcas ramming sailing boats near Spain and Portugal

Alfredo López, a biologist from the Coordinator for the Study of Marine Mammals in Galicia, said orcas made their way up the coast each September from the Gulf of Cadiz to chase tuna into the Bay of Biscay.

 

[Wansworth]

Are they definitely leaving long keel hung rudder MABs alone?

Phew!

- W

That’s what they said about covid,young people are safe..........

 

[mjcoon]

It's not a totally daft suggestion. My puppy knows to give me a couple of nudges with his nose or rest his chin heavily on my leg if I'm eating, even though he's never been fed 'human' food. It's to remind me that he's there, just in case there's anything going spare. That's seemingly there from birth, but the Orcas could easily learn it if they've been fed by a particular boat or even fleet.

I once got pecked in the backside by a goose just because I was watching a toddler and Mum feeding another goose. Sin of omission on my part, I suppose. And origin of being "goosed"?

 

[atol]

Do whales suffer from PMT ?

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Do whales suffer from PMT ?

Maybe you are joking but maybe it is not such a crazy idea. There is a pod of Orcas in Scotland, quite an old Pod and well studied. Their numbers have been decreasing and one of the young but mature was found dead after being entangled in a net. Fat samples were taken and an autopsy was performed: the levels of PCB were through the roof and the reproductive organs were incapable of performing their function, I think because they had not developed correctly. Do these chemicals have consequences for hormones and make them more aggressive?

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Are they definitely leaving long keel hung rudder MABs alone?

Phew!

- W

.... only because they are all in port with their owners contorted in the bilges trying to find the source of the latest leak, electrical failure or nasty smell.

 

[Seven Spades]

It seems that only sailing boats are being targeted so my guess is that one must have been hit by a keel at some point (Open 60?) and they are taking it out on anything that resembles it. The other feint possibility is they don't like the sonar, I don't think that many sailing boats have their depth sounder on a separate circuit to the rest of their navigation equipment. If these reports continue then I will probably turn it off if I pass by and hand steer until we are passed. The problem is I guess that these things move around. We are going to need a chart showing attack locations.

 

[Paulg25]

Not making a judgement about the incident that started this thread, and I know what is pasted below is specifically about sharks but I guess fairly applicable to Orcas...

Their mouths also function as finely tuned sensory organs, leading sharks to “mouth” unfamiliar objects as a means of examining them and determining their possible food value. (Their gums and slightly mobile teeth are so sensitive that it has been proposed that they can gauge the probable fat content of a potential prey item. Humans fall far short of the blubbery BMIs of seals and sea lions.) So, at worst, such encounters likely result from sharks’ actively assessing whether it’s worth eating a human, not actually trying to eat one. The distinction is an important one: sharks aren’t making “mistakes” during such attacks. They’re exhibiting purposeful, goal-driven behavior (that may or may not have damaging consequences for the human subject of curiosity).

As pointed out earlier in this thread, lacking hands or paws, there methods of investigation are limited.

 

[Paulg25]

They are also territorial.

 

[Sandyman]

Could it just be that you lot have got the wrong end of the stick? Typical humans you automatically assume you are under attack ?
But it could be just as possible and indeed quite likely to be that the Orcas are trying to defend you ? It sees the underwater fish shape of a hull being chased by the fin (rudder) of an attacking fish. Your going very slow relative to the speed of the fish so possibly injured & defenseless due to having been attacked by this nasty fin, as our Orca might see it and he attacks the fin to defend you ?
Then he sees human chaos on deck jumping up & down doing a war dance dressed in funny coloured trousers & jackets and assumes all is lost as the poor whale like fish is under attack from above as well as beneath the waves

 

[cherod]

Maybe you are joking but maybe it is not such a crazy idea. There is a pod of Orcas in Scotland, quite an old Pod and well studied. Their numbers have been decreasing and one of the young but mature was found dead after being entangled in a net. Fat samples were taken and an autopsy was performed: the levels of PCB were through the roof and the reproductive organs were incapable of performing their function, I think because they had not developed correctly. Do these chemicals have consequences for hormones and make them more aggressive?

apparently have not had a calf in 20 years ( if i heard correctly ) ,, as of Attinburough s excellent prog last nite.