Orca attack

[Kelpie]

Nice boat, but not one of the 'unsinkable' Sadlers.

I presume the hull was damaged where the rudder stock goes through?

- W

Got to assume so. Hard to get much information about it, I've just been picking things up through Facebook groups mostly so it's a wee bit Chinese whispers.

I think I'm going to make a watertight bulkhead forward of my skeg...

 

[blampied]

Reports of attacks that have resulted in rudder damage are coming in almost daily now up North. On one day last week there were two reports within a couple of hours of each other. Are the Orcas stepping up their actions now? It certainly seems so after a relatively quiet start to the year.
It's inconceivable that the national authorities aren't considering some sort of action after the recent sinking. Intentional or not, it certainly put lives at risk and could have finished up in a very different conclusion had weather been different.
It's certainly keeping the rescue boats busy.
I don't know what they charge per mile for rescue and recovery but I'd guess the charges will go a long way to funding the service through the summer.

Are there any speed of boat statistics?
Is there a speed profile for the attacks?
4 knots
5 knots
6 knots
7 knots
8 knots
9 knots
10 knots
What is the fastest speed a boat has been going that was attacked. ?

 

[Yorkshire Paul]

The latest interaction report received by the Cruising Association (Inter28) relates to an incident 90 miles south west of the English Scilly Islands on 8 August 2022.

The skipper told us that he managed to limp his way 180 nm to Brest with a severely damaged rudder in the northeast winds that prevented him from heading to closer ports in England. He expects a 3 week delay for repairs before resuming his circumnavigation.

You can read the report, including th skipper’s comments at www.theca.org.uk/orcas/reports

 

[Kelpie]

Posted to the Facebook group 'Orca Attack Group' today. Malo 37. It's pretty obvious where the attack happened- this is normally considered a safe area

 

[Goldie]

Are there any speed of boat statistics?
Is there a speed profile for the attacks?
4 knots
5 knots
6 knots
7 knots
8 knots
9 knots
10 knots
What is the fastest speed a boat has been going that was attacked. ?

I think that’s the sort of stuff the CA are trying to correlate via the online report forms - along with rudder configs, A/F colour, weather and sea state etc. I’ve just completed my second passage of the summer through ‘Orca Alley’ (Tarifa-Barbate-Cape Trafalgar-Cadiz) and am relieved to say that both my reports were of the ‘No Interaction’ variety. No fin seen ?

 

[John_Silver]

View attachment 140536

Posted to the Facebook group 'Orca Attack Group' today. Malo 37. It's pretty obvious where the attack happened- this is normally considered a safe area

Worth noting (for anyone else who thought, like me, that the red dot indicated the location of the incident) that SV Kristine (The Malo 37) gives the co ordinates of the incident as: 49°15,219N and 008°31,434. That is around 170nm WNW of the red dot. (Where the white course line alters). In a similar position to the other 3 reports (on CA site) from the Western Approaches. Approx 100nm SW of the Bishop Rock.
Which looks as if it’s becoming a new hot spot. So no reports, as yet, from the Brest approaches or Raz de Seine (which we’ll shortly be transiting). Phew!

 

[Sailfree]

Interested in investigating colour of rudder but do Orcas have colour vision?

Thinking of bright yellow!!

Quick Google shows Orcas and Whales are colour blind and only see shades of Grey. Back to the drawing board!!

 

[25931]

Interested in investigating colour of rudder but do Orcas have colour vision?

Thinking of bright yellow!!

Quick Google shows Orcas and Whales are colour blind and only see shades of Grey. Back to the drawing board!!

How many shades ?

 

[25931]

How many shades ?

 

[Kukri]

Stripes? Often a “danger signal” in animals.

 

[Wansworth]

The voz de galicia in todays edition (Saturday 13) write12 yachts towed in in the last Severn days because of damage from Orcas.

 

[sailaboutvic]

 

[Wansworth]

The Robertsons in their old Hillyard back in the 1970s reported the first sinking by killer whales that I recall

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Perhaps a net thrown over one or two might do the trick

 

[Wansworth]

Interesting to say in sea world put a yacht in the pool and see if the orcas attacked it,or is sea world closed now.?

 

[Kukri]

Applying Occam’s Razor to this behaviour… we know that orcas which prey on seals will sometimes act as a group to overturn an ice floe with a seal on it.

 

[Rosie1963]

The Robertsons in their old Hillyard back in the 1970s reported the first sinking by killer whales that I recall

Was it a Hilliard? I think it was a Dallimore....

 

[Wansworth]

Was it a Hilliard? I think it was a Dallimore....

Looking at photos one on cover of book written by Robertsons son maybe it was not a Hillyard

 

[blampied]

I think that’s the sort of stuff the CA are trying to correlate via the online report forms - along with rudder configs, A/F colour, weather and sea state etc. I’ve just completed my second passage of the summer through ‘Orca Alley’ (Tarifa-Barbate-Cape Trafalgar-Cadiz) and am relieved to say that both my reports were of the ‘No Interaction’ variety. No fin seen ?

if the CA after several years of attacks have not yet come up with even preliminary results then something is wrong., why the delay?

 

[Kelpie]

if the CA after several years of attacks have not yet come up with even preliminary results then something is wrong., why the delay?

They only started to collect data a few weeks ago.
I think a lot of organisations were assuming that somebody else would step up and do it. It does seem a bit odd that a UK-based non governmental association has ended up doing it.