Orca Deterent Device

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steveallan

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Following the thread on Orca interactions on the Liveaboard thread
I am looking to build a deterent system based on speakers fixed to the inside the hull.
Found this speaker https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07N664XZF/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2BQVM41SWSLKR&psc=1
Any suggestions on cheaper alternative speakers that can be fixed to the inside of the hull.
Also been advice on how to power them.
Preferably controlled by a ESP32 or similar
Proposed approximate parameters/settings
100 dB to 150 dB
40 kHz
Cycle time 10 seconds
All suggestions welcome
 
Do you have any evidence that this would work as a deterrent?
 
steveallan said:
Following the thread on Orca interactions on the Liveaboard thread
I am looking to build a deterent system based on speakers fixed to the inside the hull.
Found this speaker https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07N664XZF/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2BQVM41SWSLKR&psc=1
Any suggestions on cheaper alternative speakers that can be fixed to the inside of the hull.
Also been advice on how to power them.
Preferably controlled by a ESP32 or similar
Proposed approximate parameters/settings
100 dB to 150 dB
40 kHz
Cycle time 10 seconds
All suggestions welcome
Click to expand...
40khz 150dB is so far away from human hearing, no audio system will get anywhere near them. It's more like an Ultrasound ray gun the Russians might have tried to build in 1951.

frequencies get more directional and narrow beamed as they get higher. They are also blocked more easily by solid objects such as boat hulls, through hull transducers get over this at higher frequencies by a physical coupling to the hull such as epoxy or oil.
 
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I wonder if painting black and white stripes on the rudder, (as various poisonous fish and seasnakes) would work. Or even painting a big eye either side of the rudder.

Please don't ask me about scientific evidence. I just made it up.
 
Or conecting to the rudder some sort of metal stripes linked to the batteries. Once the orca bites, she gets an electrick shock discharge; similar to the electric fences for horses but adapted for orcas.
 
Dellquay13 said:
40khz 150dB is so far away from human hearing, no audio system will get anywhere near them. It's more like an Ultrasound ray gun the Russians might have tried to build in 1951.
Click to expand...
Sounds reasonable and I suspect devices to work efficiently at 40kHz would be sold as transducers rather than loudspeakers. Surely much of a loudspeakers output would be attenuated by the air gap between speaker and hull. Depth sounder transducers get around this by having oil in the gap and don't have vibrating cones etc. anyway.
 
Or dropping a 5kg bottle of cayenne pepper while on the frenzie of the orca attack... that would be interesting to watch what would happen...
 
Spanjaard said:
Or dropping a 5kg bottle of cayenne pepper while on the frenzie of the orca attack... that would be interesting to watch what would happen...
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Might just as well chuck a bag of chips with vinegar & a pickled onion in the water, to show them your intentions. That would show them what you intend to do to them
 
AntarcticPilot said:
Sea water conducts electricity, so it would effectively short-circuit your batteries!
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The plates could conected with some sort of rubber insulation points and an inside spring switch that would short-circuit under pressure from a bite.

Definitely I would use a spare battery connected to the rudder.

My rudder is made of 5mm aluminium alloy both sides… good luck to the orcas trying to chew that.

I speak from the confort of my home. However, for expensive yachts sailing in the area, it is too much of a risk to do nothing and then runt into the thousands of £££ if attacked, that as a minimum.

I dont think insurers would insure for that after over a year of attacks.
 
Spanjaard said:
The plates could conected with some sort of rubber insulation points and an inside spring switch that would short-circuit under pressure from a bite.

Definitely I would use a spare battery connected to the rudder.

My rudder is made of 5mm aluminium alloy both sides… good luck to the orcas trying to chew that.

I speak from the confort of my home. However, for expensive yachts sailing in the area, it is too much of a risk to do nothing and then runt into the thousands of £££ if attacked, that as a minimum.

I dont think insurers would insure for that after over a year of attacks.
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I still don't think it would work; Killer Whale flesh is probably less conductive than seawater, especially at voltages that a Killer WHale might notice.

I think that the ultrasound solutions suggested are a more promising avenue, but would require serious research. The issues are a) what intensities can we use that would be effective but not harmful? b) what types of sound (if any) would deter Killer Whales without merely provoking them? It is very unlikely that a single, fixed frequency would be effective. The Killer Whale has a much more effective sound processing system in its head than anything we're likely to come up with using electronics.. Finally, there's c), who is going to pay for the necessary research? It would be fiendishly difficult and expensive to conduct the necessary experiments, which would have to pass the ethical committee of any organization qualified to carry it out.
 
Possibly we pass out of the Med next year and if the problem I doubt is not sorted ,
I going to recorded me playing my guitar and singing . Don't cry for me Argentina , now I manage to clear an anchorage in the pass so there a change it may also work on the Oracs ,
For a small fee the cost of a recording and. P&P , happy sell as a deterrent .
If or not passing Ocras allliy no worries, you could use it to have peaceful anchorage all for your self .
 
I dropped a silver dollar in my water tank, and pulled silver wire through the water pipes. I have found this to be 100% successful in preventing orca attacks.
 
DeepKeel said:
I dropped a silver dollar in my water tank, and pulled silver wire through the water pipes. I have found this to be 100% successful in preventing orca attacks.
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Yes; I find that the UV lights in my dining room repel Killer Whales as well as killing flies. I'm sure they could get up the drainage ditch behind my property if they were really determined!
 
AntarcticPilot said:
I still don't think it would work; Killer Whale flesh is probably less conductive than seawater, especially at voltages that a Killer WHale might notice.

I think that the ultrasound solutions suggested are a more promising avenue, but would require serious research. The issues are a) what intensities can we use that would be effective but not harmful? b) what types of sound (if any) would deter Killer Whales without merely provoking them? It is very unlikely that a single, fixed frequency would be effective. The Killer Whale has a much more effective sound processing system in its head than anything we're likely to come up with using electronics.. Finally, there's c), who is going to pay for the necessary research? It would be fiendishly difficult and expensive to conduct the necessary experiments, which would have to pass the ethical committee of any organization qualified to carry it out.
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I agree with you in who is going to pay for the research... that is: nobody. There are studies about cultivating oyster mushrooms in the Himalayas, or about microplankton growing in volcanic waters.

Well your boat, your choice. I would defend it the best I could, because nobody is going to fight for you.

Drastic solutions are often the best or the only solution.
 
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