Killer whales play around family boat

A family found themselves just feet away from a pod of inquisitive killer whales off the coast of Shetland.
Click to expand...
How do you find your self just feet away when you got in the boat and motored out to the pod?
 
I was astounded at the confident assertion that there was no recorded instance of Killer Whales attacking humans - I'm afraid that I know of at least one that happened on one of Scott's Antarctic expeditions, and there are several instances of them killing their attendants in captivity. Seals are their natural prey, which are similar in size to humans. They are also suspected of sinking a few boats - the Bailey's (I think) put their sinking down to a Killer Whale.

It's one thing encountering them on passage - deliberately going and mixing it with them in a boat smaller than them doesn't seem like a good idea to me.
 
You wouldn't have got me anywhere near them. If you watch "The Blue Planet" you can see how they work together to get their prey, they are very smart. In one episode you can see a seal on an ice float trying to keep out of reach and they launched themselves up onto the ice to get it. In the end they all swam in formation to make a tidal wave that swept the seal off the ice flow. I think this man was very naive to the danger he was in.
 
Seven Spades said:
You wouldn't have got me anywhere near them. If you watch "The Blue Planet" you can see how they work together to get their prey, they are very smart. In one episode you can see a seal on an ice float trying to keep out of reach and they launched themselves up onto the ice to get it. In the end they all swam in formation to make a tidal wave that swept the seal off the ice flow. I think this man was very naive to the danger he was in.
Click to expand...

He was living the moment not watching it on Blue Planet. I would have been out there myself and sod the H&S police!
 
Last edited:
Hadenough said:
He was living the moment not watching it on Blue Planet. I would have been out there myself and sod the H&S police!
Click to expand...

Nothing to do with H&S - a lot to do with survival and common-sense. Would you walk up to a lion or tiger in the wild, taking your children with you? That's the equivalent of what this guy did. He was lucky; the whales didn't decide he and his children were prey. But it could easily have gone seriously wrong; Killer Whales are known for collaborative hunting, and they could easily have taken people from the deck of that small boat. I am very wary of carnivores big enough to take a human; a former colleague was killed by a leopard seal, which isn't anything like the size of a Killer Whale.

Killer Whales apparently divide into two populations - ones that eat fish primarily, and ones that eat seals. Of course, if the ones you encounter belong to the former population, you'll probably be OK as long as they don't feel threatened by you. But there's no way of telling which population a particular pod of whales belongs to; the difference isn't biological, it's learnt behaviour.
 
In the Pacific North West there are guidelines for watching Killer Wales.....

Turn off sonar
Don't approach closer than 100yards
Turn off the engine
Ect ect

But I don't remember anybody stating that they were a threat. Having said that a friend of mine had his 36 foot Grand Banks. "Leaned" against by a big male. He did say at that point he was a little worried as the boat moved sideways.

Personally I would have been there to watch as well.
 
LittleShip said:
In the Pacific North West there are guidelines for watching Killer Wales.....

Turn off sonar
Don't approach closer than 100yards
Turn off the engine
Ect ect

But I don't remember anybody stating that they were a threat. Having said that a friend of mine had his 36 foot Grand Banks. "Leaned" against by a big male. He did say at that point he was a little worried as the boat moved sideways.

Personally I would have been there to watch as well.
Click to expand...

The reason for those guidelines is a) to protect the whales and b) to protect people watching them. No-one would have mentioned them being a threat a) because they don't want to frighten the customers and b) because the guidelines are there to ensure safe separations between whales and people. Further, ISTR that the whales on the coast of BC and Washington State are fish-eaters - though I'd hate to bet my life on it!

The guy in the Shetlands was a LOT closer than 100 yards - on occasion, the whales were all around him. He, in fact, placed himself in a position that the whales would have attempted to force on him if they'd decided he was prey! His engine - I think an outboard - was running, giving the potential to injure the whales. If a whale had been injured, I think that they wouldn't have stayed friendly for long!

I would be quite happy to encounter Killer Whales if I was on passage and they turned up in the same sea area; I'd take sensible precuations like staying in the cockpit, perhaps turning off the echo sounder and if the engine was running, consider stopping it if the whales came close. If they started to behave agressively, I'd retreat to the hatchway and take avoiding action. But deliberately placing myself in the middle of a pod is about as good an idea as walking into a pride of lions.

I happen to have encountered Killer Whales off Portree many years ago - they are a tremendous sight. But even then (and at that time I hadn't got the knowledge I now have), I was wary of them getting too close. And I was in a slightly bigger boat than the chap in the video, though not much.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top