Whale avoidence

[arsenelupiga]

at night, navigation lights at deck level are better than one on top of mast. whale can see you sooner.

during day... sharp outlook and do not tease them. They are smarter than you think and have good dose of steamy temperament.

We saw whale sleeping during day so outlook important.

test your bulkheads water tightness. We have 8 of them.

[JPA Cate]

@Red5....

They will come over and have a look at you. Usually the Mom stands off a bit, and the youngster will come and do repeated circles around you and under you. The whales appear to be quite aware of where their bodies are. Sometimes they do come too close for comfort. All the States in Oz have rules about how close to them you should limit yourself to, but the whales don't read the rules, and over the years we've come to a "maintain course and speed" philosophy, that way they can at least predict what we're going to do. We usually turn on both depth sounders to announce ourselves.

You just might want to get a video, if some come close enough.

If one charges straight at you (which has not happened to us), I would turn away, so they get the idea you do not intend a threat. And I'm pretty sure they can tell if you're not being cooperative.

As to the incident mentioned above, we really don't know what happened other than that the whale fell on the little yellow boat, and, sadly, the young man is in a coma with a broken neck and other injuries.

And for those of you who may not have seen news coverage of the event, here's a link to the modern day Jonah: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/12/u...gtype=Homepage


Ann

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by Red 5

Lol i won't be playing classical.... ACDC and Metallica maybe the go.

Might try In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (Iron Butterfly) - Whales are pretty smart and would definitely avoid that Snoozing whales are probably your biggest concern. We had a Pilot Whale cruise with us for about five miles off Makapuu Point in Hawaii one time. she had a little one with her tucked right up next to the boat. Not much we could do, as we had left our copy of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida on the dock. aside from changing our shorts a lot. If they're awake, the chances of hitting one are pretty slim just have a lookout for the snoozers as they're likely to be cranky if you wake them up. As a last resort, there's always the Barry Manilow Medley which should repel everything

[bcboomer]

Just to set the record straight, Humpback Whales do NOT echo locate. They feed on krill and small fish and have no use for echo locating and will not pay attention to your music.
Secondly, they are NOT aware of boats around them. The only way to hopefully avoid contact is to stay as far from them as you can, a minimum of 400 meters.

[SuW]

Originally Posted by Red 5

Lol oh yeah mine will be slammed shut.
Funny that in 9 years in the Navy (pre 82) I don't remember seeing any on the many trips to Jervis Bay.

And there's a reason for that. Around then was the historic low-point of world-wide whale populations.

Take a look at Figs 1 and 3 here.

[Jane Sorensen]

If you do happen to sight them, I hope you get one of the new Whale Flags (a red whale tail on a yellow field, IIRC) that you can run up shroud to let other boaters know that there's one in the vicinity. A PSA for everybody.

[SuW]

Originally Posted by Jane Sorensen

If you do happen to sight them, I hope you get one of the new Whale Flags (a red whale tail on a yellow field, IIRC) that you can run up shroud to let other boaters know that there's one in the vicinity. A PSA for everybody.

What a good idea! Whale flag for those interested.
Also a Pan-Pan call on the VHF would be helpful to everyone, including the whales.

[ditechspain]

Did hear about a couple crossing the Atlantic worried by a large whale approaching slowly from astern.

Husband disappeared below and the head was flushed repeatedly.

Eventually the husband asked what the whale was doing and was told it was apparently losing interest.

He'd been flushing chemical toilet fluid.

[john manning]

If you are travelling in the same direction then you can reduce your chances of collision with whales by travelling at the same or lower speed than them. I have followed a hump back from New Zealand most of the way to Fiji, sailing at about 6.5Kts. It was a worry at first but after a couple of days we looked forward to seeing the whale each day.

We were normally about 100 - 200m apart. The closest we got was about 30m. I think the whale came over to look at the yacht.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by bcboomer

Just to set the record straight, Humpback Whales do NOT echo locate. They feed on krill and small fish and have no use for echo locating and will not pay attention to your music.
Secondly, they are NOT aware of boats around them. The only way to hopefully avoid contact is to stay as far from them as you can, a minimum of 400 meters.

This is great info boomer, but why do you say they are not aware of us? They are intelligent, thoughtful and aware. So why wouldn't they notice us just like we notice them?

This is not a trick question or anything. I think staying away is a good idea. They don't echo-locate, but they still have hearing and vision and other senses. They're also curious animals (just like us). Why they wouldn't be as aware of us as we are of them.

[bcboomer]

There was a presentation at the virtual Vancouver Boat Show by a whale expert. She made it very clear that feeding Humpbacks are totally unaware of boats when feeding. Perhaps it has something to do with the noises they are making blowing air out and then rushing up to the surface.
She feels the 200 meter restriction from them is inadequate. 400 meters is safer for the whales.

[Reefmagnet]

Humpbacks might not echo locate, but I suspect they have a very good sense of what's round them. The reality is, stay well away from those that are broaching or tail slapping and let them do the collision avoidance. Seen many whales over the years and the only one time we ever encountered a whale that was totally unaware of our presence was on a dead still day, with thick fog and the big fella was having a snooze on the surface. I recall reading once that they don't sleep, but this guy was definitely having a snooze.


They also appear to be curious and will come have a look at you sometimes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypVhARvNSCk

[sailingabe41ds]

I guess since whales are as smart as us and they have hospitals, universities and live in underwater cities .... just keep a harpoon by the pulpit and they should know exactly what that is. My understanding is that Melville's Moby Dick is essential reading before graduating whale high school. Just to make sure if some where drop outs, you might want to put an underwater speaker telling them to stay away at least 100yds from your boat. Make sure it is an underwater speaker since sound bounces of the water and they can not hear a thing when they are underwater. I understand the WNN (Whale Network News) is recently running a public health announcement in the underwater cable networks about boating safety too.
(humor....I do not mean to offend any whales, dolphins, or any other sea mammals).

IMHO

Abe

[girdasso]

I have hit a whale in Bass Straight fortunately a glancing hit and no damage. A friend has hit whales twice in a Coffs Harbour race and sustained serious damage and had to get to port in a hurry but survived.
The problem is getting worse but the risk is still extremely low.
Regarding current BOM have maps which will show where to get the best favorable current up to 2 knots assistance.
Have never heard of a humpback whale attacking a boat they are pretty friendly.
Firstly I hope you have a good strong boat in case of accidents.
Secondly obviously have a good lookout posted in daylight. If you are cruising and not in a hurry plan to sail mostly in daylight and stop overnight.
Make contact with the local coastal stations they will have information on the movement of whales in their area
If sailing at night in a risk area I like the idea of running the motor in neutral. Whales have extremely good hearing and will avoid you.

[Christmas Beetle]

Thank you - this has been the best thread I have read - informative and humorous