Orca attack

[Wandering Star]

Wirral man dies while attempting trans-Atlantic rowing challenge

 

[Cariadco]

Here's the first ship that went to his aid, but they were unable to secure a line to Mike's Boat. A Local Fishing ship eventually got alongside, but they found Mike's body in the cabin. Mike' family started a gofundme, to raise the £20k needed to expatriate his body back to Wales. This they have achieved, and he's on his way.
A sad, sad end to a brave man. He would have been the first to row the Atlantic with Type 1 Diabetes.

 

[Wansworth]

poster in Cngas port, ria de Vigo asking for people to contact in real time sightings of killer whales

 

[Major_Clanger]

Given that Orcas seem fairly plentiful in the NE Atlantic, why don't the relevant authorities just cull this problematic pod before someone dies and/or they teach others?

You make it sound so terribly simple...... What an utterly ridiculous, irresponsible and dunderheaded suggestion. You've no place on the water.

What other Orcas are this pod going to teach? None, because there aren't any others in that part of the ocean. They will likely die anyway as food sources dwindle and they become more inbred. We're talking about a critically endangered pod and your answer is to simply kill them? I've been through the Straits multiple times over the last few years in a variety of yachts and haven't even seen an Orca yet - the chances of attack are not high (though I know people who have been).

I'm very far from being a tree-hugger, but it's way overtime that we realised we're not the apex species at sea. Nor am I suggesting we just leave them to their own devices, but a cull is not the answer to anything.

 

[webcraft]

You make it sound so terribly simple...... What an utterly ridiculous, irresponsible and dunderheaded suggestion. You've no place on the water.

What other Orcas are this pod going to teach? None, because there aren't any others in that part of the ocean. They will likely die anyway as food sources dwindle and they become more inbred. We're talking about a critically endangered pod and your answer is to simply kill them? I've been through the Straits multiple times over the last few years in a variety of yachts and haven't even seen an Orca yet - the chances of attack are not high (though I know people who have been).

I'm very far from being a tree-hugger, but it's way overtime that we realised we're not the apex species at sea. Nor am I suggesting we just leave them to their own devices, but a cull is not the answer to anything.

There's more than one pod. The original pod have already taught two more to eat rudders.

 

[Major_Clanger]

There's more than one pod. The original pod have already taught two more to eat rudders.

Where's that info from please Webby? I had read that it was a single pod of 36 animals so where's the other pod come from, or was it always there? The pod's matriarch should have been tagged ages ago and location made available to interested parties.

 

[RobbieW]

There have been recorded incidents off N Spain and the Algarve on the same day (or adjacent days) in the last 2 or 3 years. That suggests at least two groups are actively involved. Whether they are part of the same pod, who knows. I understand there is a resident Gibraltar based Orca group and a migratory group that follow tuna up the Iberian coast and into Biscay. I've assumed it is the second group that are involved in the incidents because of the locations.

 

[Mark-1]

Totally relevant to this thread. The language is a bit fruity for those who (unlike me) can understand it.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1766528085300543779

 

[trapper guy]

am curious if a lack of food is the reasoning behind the orca attacks? and if not a lack of food, greedy orcas?
a boat looks a lot like an upturned whale from underneath, and the rudder may appear to be a tail fin, and as far as im aware, orcas do attack gray whales.

 

[trapper guy]

the lack of an edit function forces me to post again.
this is an afterthought.....tigers are deterred from attacking by painting eyes on the back of helmets, as they like to sneak up on the back of potential victims, the eyes confuse them.

knowing orcas to be a tad brighter than tigers, im not sure if a similar tactic would work but maybe worth investigating?
anyone willing to paint big eyes on the hull of their boat and do a bit of live experimentation??
no volunteers?

 

[billskip]

the lack of an edit function forces me to post again.

Try tap on this in your post....

 

[KevinV]

the lack of an edit function forces me to post again.
this is an afterthought.....tigers are deterred from attacking by painting eyes on the back of helmets, as they like to sneak up on the back of potential victims, the eyes confuse them.

knowing orcas to be a tad brighter than tigers, im not sure if a similar tactic would work but maybe worth investigating?
anyone willing to paint big eyes on the hull of their boat and do a bit of live experimentation??
no volunteers?

Beware - it's been tried before, and every civilisation that did this came to a sticky end....

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Good Orca ramming boat though we need a volunteer forum crew of rowers to go out Orca hunting.

 

[trapper guy]

Try tap on this in your post....

View attachment 173942

yeah, only i dont see those three dots on any post, mine or anyone elses

 

[trapper guy]

Beware - it's been tried before, and every civilisation that did this came to a sticky end....

View attachment 173943

i think a lack of manoeuvrability might have had something to do with their lack of success, a bit like trying to hit a fly with a wheelie bin

 

[billskip]

yeah, only i dont see those three dots on any post, mine or anyone elses

You won't see them on anyone else's because you can't edit other people's original posts...but they should be on your posts...

 

[Stingo]

The edit might not be an available option for new members. FAT might be able to enlighten us?

 

[AllWinds]

There is what I found to be quite a good discussion about the Orcas here:

In my opinion well worth the watch if you are thinking of heading south and into or out of the Med this year.

 

[arcot]

A few years ago I listened to a program on Radio 4, part of which was a discussion about shark 'attacks'. At the time there was debate about people being bitten by sharks (including Great Whites) but not eaten and a lot of them living to tell the tale. One of the guests, cannot remember his qualifications but they were relevant, postulated that the sharks were biting, not because they were hungry or just aggressive but because they were wondering what it was they had come across. If an animal with hands, apes for instance, encounter something new they may investigate it using various of their senses including touching and feeling it. Sharks and Orcas not having hands, do the feeling bit with their mouths. So 6 tons of Orca mouthing your rudder probably isn't an attack.

One other comment. Orcas live in the sea. They have no choice, it's where evolution put them. Humans have evolved such that they do have a choice... !

Wild killer whales are not considered a threat to humans, and no fatal attack on humans has ever been documented.

 

[arcot]

A few years ago I listened to a program on Radio 4, part of which was a discussion about shark 'attacks'. At the time there was debate about people being bitten by sharks (including Great Whites) but not eaten and a lot of them living to tell the tale. One of the guests, cannot remember his qualifications but they were relevant, postulated that the sharks were biting, not because they were hungry or just aggressive but because they were wondering what it was they had come across. If an animal with hands, apes for instance, encounter something new they may investigate it using various of their senses including touching and feeling it. Sharks and Orcas not having hands, do the feeling bit with their mouths. So 6 tons of Orca mouthing your rudder probably isn't an attack.

One other comment. Orcas live in the sea. They have no choice, it's where evolution put them. Humans have evolved such that they do have a choice... !

Wild killer whales are not considered a threat to humans, and no fatal attack on humans has ever been documented.

Dr. Alexandra Morton's husband I believe died underwater while investigating an Orca in Johnstone Strait, East Coast Vancouver Island.