chrishscorp
Well-known member
Looks very much like an Orca due to the black and white colouring
Orca attack
- Thread starter Sailfree
- Start date
Looks very much like an Orca due to the black and white colouring
Daydream believer
Well-known member
Have not seen the video,(no FB) but surely they would not actually bite a running outboard. . The props might remove a bit of plaque from their teeth at least. A couple of instances like that, might deter them from further attacks. A useful exercise, regardless of what the greenies think .
This facination they have for propellers reminds me of 2 incidents that we had in the northern part of the bay of Biscay.
We were motoring northwards in zero wind when the prop suddenly cavitated for a second or two. It did this 3-4 times. Like all skippers I notice any change in the engine immediately. I wondered if we had weed in the prop, so my son looked over the stern. To his surprise there was darned great fish with about 3 ft of it sticking out from under the stern. Then we noticed dolphins swimming around us. It seems that they were swimming up behind the boat, getting under the boat, close to the saildrive. ( which meant pushing against the rudder as it was in line) & blowing water or air at the prop.
So every few seconds it cavitated. This went on for about 20 minutes, then they left.
It happened again as we were about a mile from Le pouliguen & the dolphin followed us into our berth. I actually managed to kneel on the pontoon & stroke it.
This facination they have for propellers reminds me of 2 incidents that we had in the northern part of the bay of Biscay.
We were motoring northwards in zero wind when the prop suddenly cavitated for a second or two. It did this 3-4 times. Like all skippers I notice any change in the engine immediately. I wondered if we had weed in the prop, so my son looked over the stern. To his surprise there was darned great fish with about 3 ft of it sticking out from under the stern. Then we noticed dolphins swimming around us. It seems that they were swimming up behind the boat, getting under the boat, close to the saildrive. ( which meant pushing against the rudder as it was in line) & blowing water or air at the prop.
So every few seconds it cavitated. This went on for about 20 minutes, then they left.
It happened again as we were about a mile from Le pouliguen & the dolphin followed us into our berth. I actually managed to kneel on the pontoon & stroke it.
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GHA
Well-known member
With a vertical tail on a site dedicated to sharks and text saying it's a shark?
Might be a shark...
chrishscorp
Well-known member
Your right the tail is vertical not horizontal it is a shark
Either way its mad footage, the props must have been on very low tick over as there is no blood in the water.
Either way its mad footage, the props must have been on very low tick over as there is no blood in the water.
greeny
Well-known member
Agree, and the boat looks to have a Florida registration on the stern so really nothing to do with the happenings over here.
oldharry
Well-known member
Seems that over half the boats attacked so far had black anti fouling according to the Cruising Association:
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Black antifoul suspected cause of orca attacks
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Black antifoul suspected cause of orca attacks
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
As Orcas are really pretty smart, I doubt if they’re mistaking boats for other whales. So is this the orca fashion police on patrol? Do they just not like black bellies?
Spirit (of Glenans)
Well-known member
If you flip a coin a hundred times it is statistically likely to turn up "heads" on at least fifty of those flips(tosses?)
Just sayin'.
Just sayin'.
KevinV
Well-known member
What percentage of boats have black antifouling?
Spirit (of Glenans)
Well-known member
I would ask, how many of the boats that have found themselves in the proximity of orcas have black a/f?
penfold
Well-known member
That data set would be of more use, but good luck collating it.
sailaboutvic
Well-known member
Actually when I read this a few days ago , I just had to laugh , is that the best they can come up with.
a more bigger percentage is every boat that got attract had a rudder.
a more bigger percentage is every boat that got attract had a rudder.
blush2
Active member
We had black antifouling when we set off on our mini Atlantic circuit in 2008. We saw pilot whales fairly close crossing Biscay and were very closely followed by three Minke on our way to the Canaries (was this a tripod?). We re-antifouled in the Canaries with red and didn't come close to any whales from there on, even in the Azores which is a whale hot spot.
On the other hand, dolphins of all sorts seem to love Blush no matter what colour antifouling she has and wherever she is.
On the other hand, dolphins of all sorts seem to love Blush no matter what colour antifouling she has and wherever she is.
WindyWindyWindy
Active member
Surely navy blue would be close enough to black from an orcas (colour blind) perspective?
Neeves
Well-known member
We have red AF (on a cat) because it is most easily spotted by air, from a helicopter. Black, white, blue, green etc tend to merge into the sea scape. And white is a misnomer
If I had to guess I might have guessed that a dark blue was the most common colour used in AF but I think in addition to suggesting that black is the most common colour suffering attacks they need to define what colours were used and how many of each colour. There is no evidence that colour impacts AF performance - so choice should be on the basis of aesthetics, or maybe (as in our case) safety.
When you look at yachts from underneath - they all seem black, they are in the shade, and as most AF tends to be dark........
The idea that Orcas are very intelligent but choose yachts with black AF preferentially - seems contradictory. It suggests that not only are they very intelligent but that they can differentiate between the shaded colours of dark blue, black, dark green. Additionally if the Orcas have this behaviour because they find it entertaining it is difficult to imagine that a dark colour, sorry, black is more entertaining than a lighter colour, say dark blue.
Makes no sense to me.
However if you dither over the choice of colour for AF and you really do not mind - then why not choose a colour as far from black in the spectrum - somethings pale (or red) at least you know when you need to scrub the hull. Or if you lose your keel and you use red AF- you might be spotted earlier.
It will be interesting to read how this all develops. The AF companies will be watching this with interest.
Jonathan
If I had to guess I might have guessed that a dark blue was the most common colour used in AF but I think in addition to suggesting that black is the most common colour suffering attacks they need to define what colours were used and how many of each colour. There is no evidence that colour impacts AF performance - so choice should be on the basis of aesthetics, or maybe (as in our case) safety.
When you look at yachts from underneath - they all seem black, they are in the shade, and as most AF tends to be dark........
The idea that Orcas are very intelligent but choose yachts with black AF preferentially - seems contradictory. It suggests that not only are they very intelligent but that they can differentiate between the shaded colours of dark blue, black, dark green. Additionally if the Orcas have this behaviour because they find it entertaining it is difficult to imagine that a dark colour, sorry, black is more entertaining than a lighter colour, say dark blue.
Makes no sense to me.
However if you dither over the choice of colour for AF and you really do not mind - then why not choose a colour as far from black in the spectrum - somethings pale (or red) at least you know when you need to scrub the hull. Or if you lose your keel and you use red AF- you might be spotted earlier.
It will be interesting to read how this all develops. The AF companies will be watching this with interest.
Jonathan
FWB
N/A
Possibly the basic underwater shape resembles a marine creature and the Orcas go to bite one of the fins, ie the rudder.
noelex
Well-known member
It is nice to see organisations working towards practical solutions.
They are obviously not 100% sure that black antifouling makes a difference, but I think releasing these preliminary findings before proper statistical analysis is undertaken is a sensible move.
Cruising sailors can make their own decisions.
They are obviously not 100% sure that black antifouling makes a difference, but I think releasing these preliminary findings before proper statistical analysis is undertaken is a sensible move.
Cruising sailors can make their own decisions.
greeny
Well-known member
Is this really the best they can come up with? Why don't they just admit that they really don't know the reason. Boats of all anti foul colours have suffered damage down here. To say one colour is worse than the rest really is a leap of faith without accurate data showing how many boats of each colour are out there on the given day. And that data is not available. Oh sorry, I've never heard of a boat with yellow antifoul being damaged. Let's all paint our bottoms yellow for the next season. Me? - I'll be sticking with reversing and sand or firecrackers. Oh and the fact I've got a lift up rudder.
Stop Press: I've just heard that boats with dry bottoms never get attacked. But more analysis may be needed before conclusions can be reached.
Me? - I'll be sticking with reversing and sand or firecrackers. Oh and the fact I've got a lift up rudder. Stop Press: I've just heard that boats with dry bottoms never get attacked. But more analysis may be needed before conclusions can be reached.
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Buck Turgidson
Well-known member
Any copper coated ?
sailaboutvic
Well-known member
Don't be silly CC turns green .