Killer whales off the Pacific Attacking Boats Too!

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

You can see I didn’t write that, all the comments are in the thread.

But you can bet I will shoot the one ramming me or biting into my rudder and trying to rip it off.

'I wouldn't do that, you will only piss it off.'

Actual statement from Tasmanian cray fishermen when one of my crew suggested putting a bullet into a Great White that was passing by down by Matsuyker 20 something years ago.

I heard once that bleach in the water works.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

'I wouldn't do that, you will only piss it off.'

Actual statement from Tasmanian cray fishermen when one of my crew suggested putting a bullet into a Great White that was passing by down by Matsuyker 20 something years ago.

I heard once that bleach in the water works.

They watched “Jaws” too much. The attack will stop instantly, it’s a matter of caliber

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

They watched “Jaws” too much. The attack will stop instantly, it’s a matter of caliber

And this is based on what personal experience?

[neilpride]

If this is going to become a behavior everywhere it is going to be the end of FG spade rudders.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by neilpride

If this is going to become a behavior everywhere it is going to be the end of FG spade rudders.

Bring back the barn doors -- like mine .

Sadly though, what this will actually mean is a lot of dead orcas.

[boatman61]

I live in Portugal and the W coast and Algarve are home waters.. I have noticed that they seem selective in their 'attacks'.. 3 yachts can safely pass an area only for the 4th will be approached for example.
Or a boat will be damaged and even if the orca are still around they will not trouble a boat/yacht coming to assist the damaged vessel.
Is there something about this seeming selectivity of certain vessels above others.
For example a boat was damaged between Sines and Setubal, another yacht 2nm away answered their call and went to assist and the Orca swam away past them.
I think there's a lot more to the why than is being implied, they seem drawn to certain boats over others.
I too feel they should not be culled/exterminated.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I live in Portugal and the W coast and Algarve are home waters.. I have noticed that they seem selective in their 'attacks'.. 3 yachts can safely pass an area only for the 4th will be approached for example...

Indeed.
According to the researchers:
"Most encounters have been harmless, López Fernandez told Live Science in an email. "In more than 500 interaction events recorded since 2020 there are three sunken ships. We estimate that killer whales only touch one ship out of every hundred that sail through a location."

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I live in Portugal and the W coast and Algarve are home waters.. I have noticed that they seem selective in their 'attacks'.. 3 yachts can safely pass an area only for the 4th will be approached for example.
Or a boat will be damaged and even if the orca are still around they will not trouble a boat/yacht coming to assist the damaged vessel.
Is there something about this seeming selectivity of certain vessels above others.
For example a boat was damaged between Sines and Setubal, another yacht 2nm away answered their call and went to assist and the Orca swam away past them.
I think there's a lot more to the why than is being implied, they seem drawn to certain boats over others.
I too feel they should not be culled/exterminated.

This is very interesting. I’m surprised no one has done a comparison between each of the boats that has been damaged.

Look for similarities.

[NaClyDog]

Are only sailboats being attacked? What about slow moving full displacement boats? Trawlers and the like?

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by neilpride

If this is going to become a behavior everywhere it is going to be the end of FG spade rudders.

The orcas are very powerful and the type of rudder does not seem to be a factor in the amount of damage. The study below suggests boats with full skeg hung rudders are more likely to suffer severe damage (50%) than those with spade rudders (19%) and of course the repair will be more complicated. These numbers are likely a statistical anomaly due to the small sample size but a skeg hung rudder does not offer any protection. There are relatively few full keel boats traversing the area so they are not included in the statistics, but full keel boats have been severely damaged so are certainly not immune.

https://www.orcaiberica.org/en/tipo-...s-involucrados

The bottom line is having a strong rudder is a good safety feature that minimises the risk of damage in the event of a collision with debris, but if an orca decides to attack it is not going to make any difference.

The best line of defence seems to be having a watertight area around the rudder (so the boat will not sink) and a spare emergency rudder that can be used to sail to a location where repair is possible. We installed both of these features, but few cruising boat manufacturers offer these options. Sometimes they can be easily retrofitted and this is worthwhile considering.

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Indeed.
According to the researchers:
"Most encounters have been harmless, López Fernandez told Live Science in an email. "In more than 500 interaction events recorded since 2020 there are three sunken ships. We estimate that killer whales only touch one ship out of every hundred that sail through a location."

Three sailboats have been sunk, but many more have been damaged (well over 100).

In the area concerned around Spain/Portugal and the entrance/exit to the Mediterranean around 50% of boats of sailboats that have sighted orcas around them have been attacked and suffered damage. Of the sailboats damaged, 40% suffered damage so severe they had to be towed.

It is a serious problem.

[neilpride]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

The orcas are very powerful and the type of rudder does not seem to be a factor in the amount of damage. The study below suggests boats with full skeg hung rudders are more likely to suffer severe damage (50%) than those with spade rudders (19%) and of course the repair will be more complicated. These numbers are likely a statistical anomaly due to the small sample size but a skeg hung rudder does not offer any protection. There are relatively few full keel boats traversing the area so they are not included in the statistics, but full keel boats have been severely damaged so are certainly not immune.

https://www.orcaiberica.org/en/tipo-...s-involucrados

The bottom line is having a strong rudder is a good safety feature that minimises the risk of damage in the event of a collision with debris, but if an orca decides to attack it is not going to make any difference.

The best line of defence seems to be having a watertight area around the rudder (so the boat will not sink) and a spare emergency rudder that can be used to sail to a location where repair is possible. We installed both of these features, but few cruising boat manufacturers offer these options. Sometimes they can be easily retrofitted and this is worthwhile considering.

Sure, but I didn't say we should go back to the past of skeg hung rudders.

The idea of a watertight chest around the rudder is interesting, hard to convince the builder until hundreds have been sunk. Although in the expensive spectrum of the market it is surely already done.

The point here is that these encounters are happening close to shore at the moment, if the playful animals learn to do the same thing thousands of miles out to sea, we're all set.

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by neilpride

Sure, but I didn't say we should go back to the past of skeg hung rudders.

The idea of a watertight chest around the rudder is interesting, hard to convince the builder until hundreds have been sunk. Although in the expensive spectrum of the market it is surely already done.

Creating a watertight area around the rudder and the provision for fitting an emergency rudder will help mitigate damage (and loss of life) from not just orca attacks, but collisions with objects such a containers, logs and (accidental) whale strikes.

In most sailboats the rudder post enters the boat only just below the static waterline. Therefore a small coffer dam is all that may be needed to prevent a catastrophic amount of water entering and sinking the boat in the event of a collision with the rudder. This can be retrofitted to many boats, but in my view it should be included as standard on vessels that are rated for offshore sailing. A small number of manufacturers include this feature, but not many.

A full watertight bulkhead is better, especially if you have a skeg hung rudder as the hull damage may be further forward, but this is more costly and difficult to incorporate.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

I note that many of those who don't want active measures to be taken sail in waters half a world away from the affected regions. I can but wonder if they would be so accommodating if the Orcas were circling just outside their home port

Jim

I guess I must be the exception. The events occurring off the Iberian Peninsula are aberrant behavior by a tiny fraction of the many thousands of orcas worldwide. Similar behavior occurred in the 1970s near the Galapagos islands. I've not heard of any others. To me, that makes these EXTREMELY rare events by a tiny sub-population of a species - hence aberrant.

[Ryban]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

But you can bet I will shoot the one ramming me or biting into my rudder and trying to rip it off.

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/topic...protection-act

I'm pretty sure you're only going to piss them off, unless you're prepared/able to kill the whole pod. I also think you'll need to be prepared to defend your actions and demonstrate that these animals were a real threat to your life.