Second boat sunk by Orcas

[PhillM]

Troublesome Orca. Europe is not alone
The Killer Whales Haunting Fishermen in the Bering Sea

Here's an interesting suggestion.
Scientists hypothesize that orcas like the water pressure produced by a boat's propeller. "What we think is that they're asking to have the propeller in the face," de Stephanis says. So, when they encounter a sailboat that isn't running its engine, "they get kind of frustrated and that's why they break the rudder."

Do you think they would like my outboard? Even I don’t like it… so it may feel “loved” by an Orca ?

 

[stephen_h]

Troublesome Orca. Europe is not alone
The Killer Whales Haunting Fishermen in the Bering Sea

Now we are going to have ghost Orca's to contend with!

 

[Daydream believer]

Troublesome Orca. Europe is not alone
The Killer Whales Haunting Fishermen in the Bering Sea

Seems to me that there are more about than suggested earlier in this thread. So bumping off a section of a couple of dodgy pods might not actually be hurting the overall population that much after all
It is a bit like the polar bear population myth. There are something like 8000 more polar bears now than in 2015 acording to a canadian scientific study. Yet to hear the greenies you would think a different story.
I expect The world whale population has expanded in a similar way. Thus munching all the herring & other fish in the sea by the ton, so we can blame fish shortage on fishermen . Same can be said for seals I expect.

 

[Wansworth]

Whale oil for lamps?

 

[Stingo]

Whale oil for lamps?

Whale oil beef hooked, as they say in Ireland

 

[steve yates]

You know there was a time when the Orcas huggers would say , it's only some GRP not like a boat been sunk , now at less 2have ,
Now they saying , it's only a boat no one been killed.
Well mark my words it's only a matter of times if this carried on .

Yes it probably is, sad but true. Its still hardly a reason to exterminate orca pods, imo.
Getting killed by a car is still far more likely. Maybe it will focus attention on boats being built for sea that cannot survive an orca attack without sinking?

 

[KevinV]

Maybe it will focus attention on boats being built for sea that cannot survive an orca attack without sinking?

Steel rudders might be a growth industry

 

[Wansworth]

Steel rudders might be a growth industry

Or steel boats,much maligned material for yachts?

 

[Daydream believer]

Or steel boats,much maligned material for yachts?

Come back Brent Swain-- All is forgiven ?

 

[LONG_KEELER]

It's a tough call. There can be up to 50 Orca's in a pod. I'm guessing it will be difficult to identify individual's that may be the culprits so the whole lot would need to be taken out. It has been suggested that playful young males may be to blame . There is evidence elsewhere that they have various "fads" that they usually grow out of.

Just wondering if the whale watchers along the Spanish and Portuguese coast have encountered problems and stopped the trips.

I don't think it's necessarily tree hugger types . As each new generation comes along they start with a clean slate and don't have to deal with previously held views held by many of old codgers. I know this from my own children and grandchildren.

 

[sailaboutvic]

I never been keen in cull them but I still think tagging and tracking them could be the answer to tho wanting to sail through the areas .
Live up dated would make it easier for skipper to plain their trip .
This isn't just about a few cruising sailors who want to head south or North but the hundred of other boats that's use those seas .

 

[Daydream believer]

I never been keen in cull them but I still think tagging and tracking them could be the answer to tho wanting to sail through the areas .
Live up dated would make it easier for skipper to plain their trip .
This isn't just about a few cruising sailors who want to head south or North but the hundred of other boats that's use those seas .

How far does an Orca pod travel in a day? Tagging sounds like a good idea, if they follow a route along a coast to a feeding, breeding or hunting ground. However, if it is a random circuit with no predictable path of, say, 60+ miles a day, then would it be of much use to a yacht that might only cover 80-100 miles per day? Particularly if the pod's area is random.
If the pod was following a food source, then the information would be of use to fishermen chasing the same resource. However, fishermen are notorious for not disclosing where they are catching fish. Hence, they would not be likely to tell anyone where the pod might be heading.

 

[WindyWindyWindy]

You could slap an AIS on the buggers...

 

[Daydream believer]

You could slap an AIS on the buggers...

Well if you are volunteering to go "whale slapping", let us know. I am sure the video will be very, shall we say, interesting.
Will you do the dance whilst you are at it?
Fish slapping dance

 

[dansaskip]

In all these posts and in the news reports there seems to be not one word really about how come the boat was sunk. That's what I find surprising. The phrase "after interaction with Orcas" is just so vague. Was this more than just an attack on the rudder as other incidents? I am speculating here but if it was was say and attack on a rudder/loss of rudder that led to water ingress then perhaps watch design is going down the wrong road - just saying.
But. really has anyone heard what really happened?

 

[Buck Turgidson]

It's a tough call. There can be up to 50 Orca's in a pod. I'm guessing it will be difficult to identify individual's that may be the culprits so the whole lot would need to be taken out. It has been suggested that playful young males may be to blame . There is evidence elsewhere that they have various "fads" that they usually grow out of.

Just wondering if the whale watchers along the Spanish and Portuguese coast have encountered problems and stopped the trips.

I don't think it's necessarily tree hugger types . As each new generation comes along they start with a clean slate and don't have to deal with previously held views held by many of old codgers. I know this from my own children and grandchildren.

The pod is well known and the individuals who do the damage are well known. It would be simple and cheap and have no noticeable effect on world wide orca numbers. Just some hurt feelings for the eco loons.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

The pod is well known and the individuals who do the damage are well known. It would be simple and cheap and have no noticeable effect on world wide orca numbers. Just some hurt feelings for the eco loons.

I think it would be helpful if you could supply a link re the above information and descriptions of individual Orcas that are causing most of the problems. It may help sailors planning a crossing. As Dansaskip mentions above, there appears next to no information on this current sinking.

 

[Rappey]

At 2.30 there is a short clip of the orcas, the interior of the yacht awash and then sinking. The shark at the beginning takes boat attack to a different level ..

 

[MisterBaxter]

I'm evidently an eco-loon too because I definitely wouldn't want to see fifty whales killed just to reduce (not remove, there might be other whales with the same habits) the already infinitesimally small chance of a problem. To date two boats have sunk and nobody has died. How many boats are there on the Atlantic off the Spanish and Portuguese coasts at any one time - hundreds of thousands, maybe? It just doesn't feel like anything worth panicking about in risk assessment terms, compared to the far greater dangers of shipping containers, dodgy seacocks and the biggest killer of all - rowing back out to the boat in the dark after a night at the pub, which an RNLI man once told me was far and away the biggest cause of leisure sailing deaths.
I say just leave them out there doing their thing, and in the incredibly unlikely event that they come too close for comfort, dangle the spinnaker pole off the side and give it a good clanging with a hammer.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

I'm evidently an eco-loon too because I definitely wouldn't want to see fifty whales killed just to reduce (not remove, there might be other whales with the same habits) the already infinitesimally small chance of a problem. To date two boats have sunk and nobody has died. How many boats are there on the Atlantic off the Spanish and Portuguese coasts at any one time - hundreds of thousands, maybe? It just doesn't feel like anything worth panicking about in risk assessment terms, compared to the far greater dangers of shipping containers, dodgy seacocks and the biggest killer of all - rowing back out to the boat in the dark after a night at the pub, which an RNLI man once told me was far and away the biggest cause of leisure sailing deaths.
I say just leave them out there doing their thing, and in the incredibly unlikely event that they come too close for comfort, dangle the spinnaker pole off the side and give it a good clanging with a hammer.
[/QUOTE

I'm evidently an eco-loon too because I definitely wouldn't want to see fifty whales killed just to reduce (not remove, there might be other whales with the same habits) the already infinitesimally small chance of a problem. To date two boats have sunk and nobody has died. How many boats are there on the Atlantic off the Spanish and Portuguese coasts at any one time - hundreds of thousands, maybe? It just doesn't feel like anything worth panicking about in risk assessment terms, compared to the far greater dangers of shipping containers, dodgy seacocks and the biggest killer of all - rowing back out to the boat in the dark after a night at the pub, which an RNLI man once told me was far and away the biggest cause of leisure sailing deaths.
I say just leave them out there doing their thing, and in the incredibly unlikely event that they come too close for comfort, dangle the spinnaker pole off the side and give it a good clanging with a hammer.

Who is talking about culling 50 orca other than you?