Orca attack

[Koeketiene]

Don't count on it, knowing how the police operate here they could still nail you for having a prohibited item on board, such as fireworks.

A few years back, a bear attacked a 70 year old man in the Pyrenees.
The bear was shot despite bears being a protected spicies.
No-one was charged.
The case received a lot of publicity at the time.

Brown bear shot dead in France after attacking 70-year-old man

 

[Lightwave395]

They're moving North now - in the SE corner of Biscay:

Orca interaction / attack 20nm north of Zumaia between San Sebastian and Bilbao.
Translation : In the last few hours, two attacks by a group of orcas on sailboats have been reported in the waters of the Bay of Biscay, a few miles from the Basque coast. The first incident took place on Saturday about 20 miles north of Zumaia when a group of five killer whales hit the rudder and the hull of a sailboat, which fortunately did not register significant damage and was able to continue sailing until it reached the port of Mutriku. Once there they verified that the incident did not cause any breakage, just a few scratches.
Article. https://www.deia.eus/bizkaia/2023/08/14/grupo-orcas-golpea-veleros-cerca...

 

[Frogmogman]

FWIW, I’m with a friend at the moment who is a crew on a 32m Royal Huisman aluminium sailing yacht. She tells me that on their way out of the Med last year they were attacked by orcas, but their alloy rudder proved too tough for them to chew up. They nudged the boat for a while, sails down and engine off until the orcas lost interest quite quickly. The boat was slipped to inspect for damage, but none of any significance.

 

[rogerthebodger]

FWIW, I’m with a friend at the moment who is a crew on a 32m Royal Huisman aluminium sailing yacht. She tells me that on their way out of the Med last year they were attacked by orcas, but their alloy rudder proved too tough for them to chew up. They nudged the boat for a while, sails down and engine off until the orcas lost interest quite quickly. The boat was slipped to inspect for damage, but none of any significance.

To me this confirms that a metal (aluminium of steel rudders) would survive an Orca attack.

Even on a GRP boat a aluminium of steel rudder would survive better than a GRP rudder plus water inclusion if the rudder is correctly constructed corrected

 

[Wansworth]

Sheathing rudders with stainless was discussed a while back,don’t remember the opinion on that

 

[Zing]

What happens? Do they chew it off or ram it?

 

[rogerthebodger]

Sheathing rudders with stainless was discussed a while back,don’t remember the opinion on that

Te issue there is water getting between the stainless keel and the wood

This is my steel rudder which is hollow and r\presser tested it is also a airfoil shape for best lift efficiency

https://flic.kr/p/VKo4si

This shows the internal structure of a stainless steel rudder I made formy self steering gear, Again hollow and pressure tested after fabrication

https://flic.kr/p/WooTio

 

[Buck Turgidson]

FWIW, I’m with a friend at the moment who is a crew on a 32m Royal Huisman aluminium sailing yacht. She tells me that on their way out of the Med last year they were attacked by orcas, but their alloy rudder proved too tough for them to chew up. They nudged the boat for a while, sails down and engine off until the orcas lost interest quite quickly. The boat was slipped to inspect for damage, but none of any significance.

Interesting but not really relevant to most. A 32m boat whether made of GRP or Al or any other material will have a rudder stock much stronger than your average cruising boat so less likely to be bent. Look at many of the rudders which have been damaged and it's not just the rudder ripped but the stock bent.

 

[Daydream believer]

perhaps a couple of spikes out the side might help.would dig into the roof of their mouths

 

[Buck Turgidson]

perhaps a couple of spikes out the side might help.would dig into the roof of their mouths

I did actually think about this earlier this year when I decided to finally remove the steel brackets from my rudder which had housed a trim tab in earlier times. Sharpen them or remove them? I removed them.

 

[Zing]

Interesting but not really relevant to most. A 32m boat whether made of GRP or Al or any other material will have a rudder stock much stronger than your average cruising boat so less likely to be bent. Look at many of the rudders which have been damaged and it's not just the rudder ripped but the stock bent.

Indeed. I don’t think large ships are troubled by all of this.

 

[Adios]

MSN

Shooting at Orcas?

I wonder if the crying whale huggers would feel differently if the whales were sinking the boat they were on

 

[Buck Turgidson]

I wonder if the crying whale huggers would feel differently if the whales were sinking the boat they were on

Of course they fail to understand that they are deliberately going out to harass the Orca on their tourist trips whilst the yacht is simply transiting the area!

 

[Sailfree]

Posting from phone so can't do link but in yesterday's e mail from Smithsonian Institute there was a study on Orcas behaviour and passing it between pods. It mentions an activity of swimming with a dead fish on their nose that got taken up by other pods. It also discusses the current activity of biting rudders.

Best if you read the informative scientific article yourself. If someone can post a link it would be helpful.

 

[Zing]

Another deterrent idea as used by fishermen. I think the Spanish authorities say it is illegal though:

Reduce Dolphin Bycatch - Acoustic Pingers to Prevent Bycatch

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Another deterrent idea as used by fishermen. I think the Spanish authorities say it is illegal though:

Reduce Dolphin Bycatch - Acoustic Pingers to Prevent Bycatch

pingers have been widely tried and shown to be ineffective. Firecrakers work. Lots of info on the Facebook pages. Including orca wearing fish.

 

[Zing]

pingers have been widely tried and shown to be ineffective. Firecrakers work. Lots of info on the Facebook pages. Including orca wearing fish.

Thanks. It seems so. I tried to buy some in the UK just now. I discovered they are banned! We had so much fun with them as kids.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Thanks. It seems so. I tried to buy some in the UK just now. I discovered they are banned! We had so much fun with them as kids.

everything is banned in the UK. So only the criminals have access.

 

[Wansworth]

The Darwin theory is circumvented by laws so nobody developes common sense,in the all protecting state the downside is the state controls……unless your like the Spanish who sort of circumvent state laws

 

[awol]

The Darwin theory is circumvented by laws so nobody developes common sense,in the all protecting state the downside is the state controls……unless your like the Spanish who sort of circumvent state laws

bulkpyrosupplies.co.uk seem to have a range of devices. No idea if the fuses work under water and I am not advocating their use, just an idle Google search.