Orca attack

[Major_Clanger]

Orcas have a well-developed sense of family so there'd only be need to tag one or two I'd have thought; find one and you've found the general whereabouts of all of them. If there's any truth in the damage being caused by a few wayward youngsters then tag one of them too. If nothing else it would be useful data for marine biologists.

I suspect tagging them isn't the issue, it's deciding who pays for it and the subsequent monitoring that'll be the stumbling block.

 

[laika]

I also hear that the Portuguese CG are advising changing gear

This is all down to the orcas having been recruited into the fashion police?

 

[SaltIre]

This is all down to the orcas having been recruited into the fashion police?

Some folk suggest firing flares at them, but they might have difficulty doing up the zip and the button.

 

[webcraft]

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The latest atrocity



- W

 

[Wansworth]

Is this a cases for building steel boats

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Is this a cases for building steel boats

No more a case of tagging and a cull.

 

[Major_Clanger]

I fly out to Faro on Monday to collect a boat and will be trying to source a pinger before leaving.

It upsets me to think any of my fellow yotties would call for a cull. I'm very far from being a tree-hugger, and I don't pretend to know the answer to the problem, but anyone who thinks it is to kill the animals has no place on the water IMO.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I fly out to Faro on Monday to collect a boat and will be trying to source a pinger before leaving.

It upsets me to think any of my fellow yotties would call for a cull. I'm very far from being a tree-hugger, and I don't pretend to know the answer to the problem, but anyone who thinks it is to kill the animals has no place on the water IMO.

One cannot relocate or change these animals behaviour which in all probability revolves around protecting their territory from what they see as competing entities. Orcas aren't cuddly friendly animals that will share they are predatory killing machines, at the rate of current attacks it is only a matter of time before their is a total loss at sea and fatality. So one has to accede and accept that risk or do something about it the question is, is it done on an individual basis or does a country do it.

 

[Major_Clanger]

One cannot relocate or change these animals behaviour which in all probability revolves around protecting their territory from what they see as competing entities. Orcas aren't cuddly friendly animals that will share they are predatory killing machines, at the rate of current attacks it is only a matter of time before their is a total loss at sea and fatality. So one has to accede and accept that risk or do something about it the question is, is it done on an individual basis or does a country do it.

NO!!!!! I really don't mean this to sound rude, but to describe them as 'killing machines' smacks of watching too many sensationalist, trashy American documentaries. Of course they're not cuddly and friendly, but nor are they 'killing machines', they animals which happen to be carnivorous. Just like sharks, lions.... humans (omnivorous).

We're in their domain. We can't just kill them because they don't play to our rules. It is us who should adjust, we're not the apex species at sea.

I don't hold with being reactive either and just waiting for them to grow bored. We should deter them, but not in ways that harm them and certainly not kill them. As I understand it, general thinking is that the offending animals are a few juvenile males of a pod that numbers only about sixty in total. The pod numbers have been steadily falling (because we've taken their food source) so the suggestion to cull just speeds-up the time when there'll be no orcas left on that Atlantic coast.

 

[Wandering Star]

NO!!!!! I really don't mean this to sound rude, but to describe them as 'killing machines' smacks of watching too many sensationalist, trashy American documentaries. Of course they're not cuddly and friendly, but nor are they 'killing machines', they animals which happen to be carnivorous. Just like sharks, lions.... humans (omnivorous).

We're in their domain. We can't just kill them because they don't play to our rules. It is us who should adjust, we're not the apex species at sea.

I don't hold with being reactive either and just waiting for them to grow bored. We should deter them, but not in ways that harm them and certainly not kill them. As I understand it, general thinking is that the offending animals are a few juvenile males of a pod that numbers only about sixty in total. The pod numbers have been steadily falling (because we've taken their food source) so the suggestion to cull just speeds-up the time when there'll be no orcas left on that Atlantic coast.

Agree 100% - well said!

 

[shan]

NO!!!!! I really don't mean this to sound rude, but to describe them as 'killing machines' smacks of watching too many sensationalist, trashy American documentaries. Of course they're not cuddly and friendly, but nor are they 'killing machines', they animals which happen to be carnivorous. Just like sharks, lions.... humans (omnivorous).

We're in their domain. We can't just kill them because they don't play to our rules. It is us who should adjust, we're not the apex species at sea.

I don't hold with being reactive either and just waiting for them to grow bored. We should deter them, but not in ways that harm them and certainly not kill them. As I understand it, general thinking is that the offending animals are a few juvenile males of a pod that numbers only about sixty in total. The pod numbers have been steadily falling (because we've taken their food source) so the suggestion to cull just speeds-up the time when there'll be no orcas left on that Atlantic coast.

If there is not enough food for them, then culling to reduce numbers, whilst a fish management program is put in place, is probably the kindest option.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Orcas do attack migratory whales and their calves in exactly this sort of behaviour admittedly not these or in this area and of course feed on seals so they do kill other species and attack them. The strange thing is that the first reports of this behaviour were in mid 2020 in the straits of Gibraltar and since that time there has been no satisfactory explanation for it and the only remedy was an exclusion zone foe small vessels of 60 miles along the Galician coast which has done nothing to reduce the attacks which have increased so the only solutions appear to be avoidance which is not always possible and for local vessels impossible or some type of direct action which I would suggest would start with tagging and identification.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

If there is not enough food for them, then culling to reduce numbers, whilst a fish management program is put in place, is probably the kindest option.

Is it really known that there is not enough food for them? Is that a realistic interpretation of the cause since the attacks are now only 2 years old?

 

[capnsensible]

I reckon the oversize cod cuddlers would have a change of heart if a friend or relative died as a result of an attack.

 

[Graham376]

We're in their domain. We can't just kill them because they don't play to our rules. It is us who should adjust, we're not the apex species at sea.

Very easy for you say when sailing UK waters. If I had the means, I wouldn't hesitate to kill any species attacking my boat if no other way of deterring them.

 

[shan]

Is it really known that there is not enough food for them? Is that a realistic interpretation of the cause since the attacks are now only 2 years old?

I don't know if there is or isn't but then I didn't make the claim that there is not. Whether their behaviour is food related or not would probably take a lot more research but in the interim, it's a dangerous situation and solutions need to be found.

 

[Major_Clanger]

Very easy for you say when sailing UK waters. If I had the means, I wouldn't hesitate to kill any species attacking my boat if no other way of deterring them.

Yes, very easy to say. Except that I sail all over the western world for a living (I'm off to Faro on Monday) which means there's a greater probability of the boat I'm on being attacked than for many.

 

[Graham376]

Yes, very easy to say. Except that I sail all over the western world for a living (I'm off to Faro on Monday) which means there's a greater probability of the boat I'm on being attacked than for many.

We're based there and some attacks have been within a very few miles. The skippers I've spoken to have all said it was a very frightening experience and perhaps if you have the misfortune of being a victim, your attitude may change. Hopefully, it won't happen.

 

[chrishscorp]

There is more than one pod engaging in this behaviour as there have been attacks on 2 boats in different locations at the same time far enough apart that it is definitely 2 pods.

It is sadly a matter of time before this results in the sinking of a boat and loss of crew.

I am a tree hugger but if I am skippering a boat and it is attacked I am responsible for the boat and crew I am not going to sit there and twiddle my thumbs AND I have spoken first hand to a skipper who delivering a boat was attacked and had to be towed in and lifted out.

 

[Major_Clanger]

We're based there and some attacks have been within a very few miles. The skippers I've spoken to have all said it was a very frightening experience and perhaps if you have the misfortune of being a victim, your attitude may change. Hopefully, it won't happen.

No, my attitude won't change although I'd be as frightened as the next person.

I'm only suggesting that we find ways of dealing with the issue that don't involve killing the animals. On that my mind is fixed.
Going astern = yes
Trailing a kedge = yes
Using a LF pinger = yes, in extremis
Going offshore = yes
Culling the pod = no