Orca bites off rudder ....

[penfold]

OMG, not another skeg-hung rudder !!

And this one looks like a ‘surgical‘ strike ?

I bet Beneteau has trained these bloody whales!
?

You're right, it's not a skeg-hung rudder, it's a long keel with a shoe.

 

[greeny]

Hard to definitively say what the motive is and it seems unlikely that orcas have any concept of 'damage' as relating to material objects. Possibly they are mistaking yachts for other living creatures, or possibly the rudders just break with a satisfying crunch! Lots of human behaviour does not have any obvious functional value to the participant (recreational sailing being a case in point) and would similarly puzzle an orca humanologist. In highly intelligent, social species these behaviours can be explained as either building skills that do have survival value (e.g. play) or the misdirected action of an imperative that at some point did have survival value. Culling would probably be an overreaction (though possibly I would feel differently if my boat was damaged). Certainly some research on effective deterrents would seem worthwhile.

I agree with most of what you say, I'm just making the point that experts are not always experts. They are often guessing like the rest of us albeit from a more knowledgeable position maybe. But it wouldn't have taken much thought to predict the behaviour could spread and become unmanageable. Learning from others is part of being an intelligent species I would imagine.
Culling the three original protagonists two years ago would now seem to most people, to be an acceptable loss to prevent the spread of the learned behaviour given what we're faced with now.
But the animal rights etc etc people kicked up and that it was why it was never seriously on the agenda. It should have been but wasn't. Culling a fair portion of the current population would certainly not be acceptable to them and neither would it be effective as the chance of identifying the many culprits now would be an almost impossible task.
I suspect we have to find a way to live with this until they get tired of playing or we find a way of deterring them.

 

[Travelling Westerly]

Perhaps a mini version of one of these would dissuade them from getting too near? Not intending to harm them but just enough to make them move on?

It's only compressed air so maybe easy to set up a smaller system for a boat. 300barg air cylinder as a feed source.....

 

[Sadlerfin]

This just popped up in my news feed .....

View attachment 122748

A fiend of mine is currently on a delivery from the med and was recently attached N of the Portugal coast , Video shows Ocra ramming the twin rudders.
Rather scary I would think.

 

[Zing]

They are intelligent animals and can be trained to do some pretty amazing things.

Putting the engine into gear and go in reverse means they will find it really hard to attack the rudder without getting hurt. They will learn quickly and will not do it.

Or, punish them for doing harm, like you would if your dog chewed up your house. Apologies in advance to all those who say we should hug them instead. I think this would work well (seen on another forum):

 

[greeny]

They are intelligent animals and can be trained to do some pretty amazing things.

Putting the engine into gear and go in reverse means they will find it really hard to attack the rudder without getting hurt. They will learn quickly and will not do it.

Or, punish them for doing harm, like you would if your dog chewed up your house. Apologies in advance to all those who say we should hug them instead. I think this would work well (seen on another forum):

I think the active retaliation of going astern may have some merit because doing nothing and lying ahull is certainly not working for most people.
Getting hold of anything like those big "bangers" here in Portugal would be well nigh impossible. All due to the accident some years ago at a football match involving flares. Even replacing out of date flares is a journey of epic dimensions here.

 

[chrishscorp]

We use to buy these, smaller but the same product (crow scarers on a string) at places like Mole valley stores they have magnesium fuses so will burn underwater you can even tape 1/2 dozen together and twist the fuses together to get a bigger bang

This is purely for information of course not suggesting anyone heading that way would wish to purchase them for this.

 

[Zing]

We use to buy these, smaller but the same product (crow scarers on a string) at places like Mole valley stores they have magnesium fuses so will burn underwater you can even tape 1/2 dozen together and twist the fuses together to get a bigger bang

This is purely for information of course not suggesting anyone heading that way would wish to purchase them for this.

Good idea. Like this:
Double Bang Birdscaring Banger Ropes - Portek Birdscaring and Agricultural Products

I think most fireworks work the same way and will work under water too. Rocket fireworks, which explode with a bang for example. Bangers as such are now banned. We used to have so much fun with them. Not fun when they go off in your hand though. I was numb for days.

 

[chrishscorp]

Not fun when they go off in your hand though. I was numb for days.

Your not suppose to light and hold them ?

 

[Zing]

Your not suppose to light and hold them ?

Oh, that explains it. Silly me.?

 

[Pete7]

Something else to add to the flares box:

The MK7 Thunder Flash Grenade | Enola Gaye