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Old 30-10-2020, 17:40   #46
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Re: How much damage to vessel from whale strike?

I think we need to distinguish between an accidental collision and an attack, understanding that the first can cause the second

Whale behaviour under stress is well documented by Observers on Whale Catching ships, who wrote books about their experiences.

Whalers would often shoot the calf first if of legal size, causing the cow to come to its aid for an easy 2nd kill.

The bull whale would then often charge the whaler which is why even after the switch to diesel combustion, Norwegian whalers, built in the 1950's stayed with reciprocating steam engines for fast changes from full ahead to full astern with a highly pitched single prop.

They had an icebreaking bow and the goal was to get the bow to face the charging bull and make the 3rd kill

Whalers like this have actually been sunk by sperm whale bulls when hit midship near boilers.

For 7 years I worked on an old steam whaler, converted to a charter yacht called the Thorfinn and read all the books and logs collected by the owners. Taking her to Micronesia in 1982 where she still works today as a dive hotel in Chuuk lagoon.

https://thorfinn.net/

Her sister ship which same owner converted to an ocean going tug was almost sunk by a sperm whale when it was a Catcher


I think if we were to accidentally hit a young calf with our sailboat, its plausible that the other whales may attack.

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Old 30-10-2020, 19:23   #47
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Re: How much damage to vessel from whale strike?

The Sea of Cortez is an incredible place to have whale encounters I have had a number of them there. The most memorable was a giant Blue Whale.
He was nearly twice the length of our 46 foot sailboat. We were under sail doing an easy 5kts on a beam reach in fairly calm conditions. He came along side and stayed right there on our starboard for about 10 minuets. His blow holes were so large that a person could very easily drop down into one. ( not recommended ha ha). It was thrilling and it was scary. He was gentle and seemed to just be checking us out. I remember reading that running the engine might help them to understand you. So I did that and he went in front of us about 40 feet or so and gracefully sounded vertically, huge flukes sinking down under us with a splash. Wow! When we got to the anchorage that afternoon I donned snorkel gear and could see where his pectoral fin brushed the bottom paint. As close as I care to get thank you. It is hard to fathom the sheer size of this guy, the largest creature in the world!!
We have also had a huge Humpback completely breach clear out of the water about 100’ in front of us. Have been completely surrounded by a pod of Pilot whales. After a minute they moved on.
Once on the way out of the Golden Gate on close haul about half a mile out. I saw what looked like an immediate collision course with a Grey whale and had to do an emergency tack. Whether we would have hit who knows.
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Old 30-10-2020, 23:16   #48
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Re: How much damage to vessel from whale strike?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bart Man View Post
Hi all. I am interested in any data or peoples personal experiences hitting whales...
In the Marquesas in 1976, on my 37-foot SeaRunner Spice, I met a Belgian couple on a 45-foot steel ketch, and a French couple on a 55-foot steel ketch. Both had come to the Marquesas from the Galapagos; that was when you could still visit them.

They'd both gotten attacked by killer whales about half way through their passages. The attacks were identical, with one whale slamming each side of the vessel a couple of feet underwater with their heads. The steel was 3/16" on the 45-footer, and 1/4" on the 55-footer, and the dents on each side came an easy 8 inches into the boats.

If they had been fiberglass or wooden boats, they would have sunk within seconds, with two 3-foot holes in them.

3 days south of the Big Island around 1986, headed for Tahiti, a 36-foot trimaran was attacked by a killer whale and holed under the forward V-berth. They patched the leak somewhat and came back to the Big Island for repairs; never made it to Tahiti.

My friends Ginny and Robert ran into a juvenile (only 35 feet) sperm whale with their 32-foot displacement keel boat on the way from the Galapagos to the Marquesas in 1976; they were down below, cooking and eating, when the boat stopped dead from 5-1/2 knots and everything loose, including them, ended up in the forward V-berth a half second later. No holes, no leaks, they came out on deck and saw the whale listlessly moving off on the surface, and a big patch of bloody water.

A guy I knew in Hawaii with a 35-foot Piver Lodestar trimaran was out whale watching humpbacks with a group of friends, fairly calm weather, when he motored over to get a closer look at a mother whale and calf on the surface. The mother disappeared for a few seconds, then breached right next to the boat, falling on the port outrigger, snapping off the front ten feet of it. After this was when the Hawaiian authorities made the law requiring boats to keep a 500-foot distance from whales, and if the whales came closer, the boat was not allowed to engage engines or move until the whales were again 500 feet or further away.

Driving my 24-foot displacement fishing boat in Hawaii in 1981, doing ten knots at night, thank God steering with my head around the corner of the cabin (not looking through the spray-covered plexiglass windows), I saw the head of a humpback coming up about 60 feet in front of me, going in the exact same direction I was.

I slammed the shift from full forward to full screaming reverse in about a half second, and the whale's tail had just gone below the surface as I glided over that same spot still doing about 3 knots. If I'd been driving inside the cab, I'd have hit a 20-ton whale on its way up to breathe, while doing 10 knots. As it was, I cracked the shaft coupling in half; it was the grace of God that it held and stopped me.

I've always wondered what was wrong: I thought whales had sonar and could locate stuff. I mean, a 24-hp diesel at full throttle? I can hear stuff like that when I'm scuba diving in those waters an easy 200 to 300 feet away, or more. Maybe humpbacks have a "blind spot" directly behind them?

Close calls all, God watch over all mariners and bless them,

With Warm Aloha, Tim
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