Whales . . . Should Cruisers Care ?

[David_Old_Jersey]

So, how much would a whale sell for? or a dolphin?

Just askin'

[impi]

Originally Posted by Brent Swain

I think whales, who have been surfacing at speed from great depths, their entire lives , without ever seeing a surface vessel up there , continue to do so .,short of breath and dozing a bit , when by sheer chance , hit something floating. In my steel boat I don't worry about them. I'm glad they are out there.

Guys I can only tell you of a situation I found myself in and also a guy who owns a steel hull vessel who encountered a whale.
We were out in the bay at Cape Town motoring in our Lagoon 440 with light winds, when suddenly we found ourselfs engulfed in huge bubbles. I accelerated with the props cavitating through the bubbles, and looking behind me to see what was going on, saw a whale literally jump up out of the water, landing on it's back and thrashing around. I kept accelerating to get some distance between the whale and my boat - although it was a spectacular sight it was terrifying. Soon a rubber duck (dingy with outboard) approached the whale - we sat and watched. I told my friends that we were going to be part of a rescue team. No sooner had I said it, and the whale headed for the rubber duck and thrashed it's tail at it. they were lucky to escape, and escape they did at great speed. I couldnt believe my eyes when we saw another sailing vessel (steel hull) sailing toward the whale. Before the vessel had got to it, the whale dived under water, headed toward the vessel and breached landing right ontop of it totally dismasting the boat. There was a lot of damage done. I was interviewed over the incident and phots were published in our local newspaper. Many claimed the pictures to be false - they were NOT and I dont claim to have much knowledge of whales, but I plan on giving them a wide berth. I would hate to know what would have happened if I hadnt accelerated when we found ourselves surrounded by bubbles.

[boatman61]

I want to know WHO took those pictures... and if someones props had scored his back and pissed him off

[Rou-Coo]

Originally Posted by KillerBoo

If I misunderstood you, I apologize. If not then perhaps you misunderstood me..? Dunno.

I'll accept that we had a mutual misunderstanding, perhaps caused by language differences, and apologize for my role in that as well.

[newlazydays]

Many years ago I was sailing in very light airs off the east coast of Cap Corse in Corsica. I had been at the wheel for several hours and was feeling pretty sleepy. I asked my wife to take the wheel so I could have a rest and was soon almost asleep in one of the bunks. Then I heard her footsteps on the deck above and the next thing I heard her saying was "shoo, shoo, shoo."
I leapt onto the deck to see her trying to move a very big whale from just under the bow. Needless to say the whale took no notice of her shooing! I later read that some big bull whales come in from the Atlantic and seem to use the deep water off northern Corsica as a grave yard.
I have seen many whales since then, especially of Cabo Frio north of Rio in Brazil.....but I have never had any problems with them.

[impi]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I want to know WHO took those pictures... and if someones props had scored his back and pissed him off

A tourist had a video of it where the pictures were apparently taken from. I believe the video was sent away for authentication and found to be real.... Non the less I know what we from our vessel saw and the pictures seem real to me. There was a tourist whale watching vessel nearby as well, so it could be likely that some tourist had spotted it behind our vessel and took the video ??? Im guessing tho.
About scoring the whales back....... I wouldnt know, but anything could be possible as the whole situation did not feel in keeping with how I would expect whales to naturally behave. There is a rule in South Africa where nobody may be within 300m of a whale ... I regularly see that rule being broken. We did not even know there was a whale out there until these huge bubbles appeared beneath us and it happened not far from 'breakwater' at the Cape Town Port. To be safe, I give them a very wide berth !!

[NotQuiteLost]

My favorite whale encounter was with a humpback off the coast of the northern baja. Just sitting there, eleven years old and tending my midnight to three am shift in 10ish knots of wind with just about nothing in the way of wave action. I hear something to starboard, and turn just in time to see the water spout perfectly illuminated by a nearly full moon.

I'd seen them before, but never fifteen feet off the beam. And this one hung around for a couple of minutes before finally saluting me with a raised left fin and dipping down and out of sight. The mental picture I have of it's eye apparently looking right at me is as clear as when it happened, or so it seems.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

So, how much would a whale sell for? or a dolphin?

Just askin'

Not much, from what I understand.
Whale meat is not universally popular or culturally significant in Japan except for some of the northern(??) islands.
Even there its the older generation that like it and the kids wont touch it because its a bit stinky - they tried to put it in hamburgers for young people but it didn't work.

It might be more political than we imagine. The government 'proving' to the older folks they are supporting Japanese culture, not sliding into Americanism....

[banyandah]

Too many topics to cover in one reply, but firstly Japan has a very long tradition of eating anything from the sea, including whale meat, I've had some there in the 80s, as I did in Iceland in the 70s. Many of the small towns form a co-op. Not withstanding that, I now abhor hunting these great beasts.
As to whales attacking a yacht. In NW Australia, especially the Kimberly, they give birth there and the bulls will "charge" a vessel coming too close. One dove under us when a meter away. Also had them escort Banyandah through their grounds one inky black night when we were ghosting along at a knot. Lots of tail slapping and breaching heard nearer the horizon, while one giant kept patrol alongside us, he even sprayed me with his breath. Scary, and yet fabulous. All in our new book Two's a Crew.

[sww914]

I am glad that somebody is still trying to help whales. It seems that some Japanese think that they have the right to eat any animal that they please no matter how few there are left. Maybe that's just bad press? I've never been to Japan, I don't know that they serve whale, tiger & rhino on street carts in every city.
I wish that my own personal demands were small enough that I could go crazy over some cause or another but I really can't spare the time for the whales or otters or sea snipes or anything else.
I'll worry about getting attacked by a whale less that I worry about sharks while surfing. Either is easy to worry about but probably not a realistic fear. Makes about as much sense as worrying about an airline crash as I sit here smoking a cigar. The cigar is much more dangerous.

[sww914]

I'm not sure that was a good idea...
But it made me laugh.

[osirissail]

As to whether a cruiser should be concerned about whales - I think this cruiser was very much concerned . . . .

[osirissail]

Actually, it was thought to be photo-shopped but when CBS News and others investigated it was authentic. Here is the aftermath . . . See: FoxNews.com - Whale vs. Sailboat

[NotQuiteLost]

Originally Posted by osirissail

Actually, it was thought to be photo-shopped but when CBS News and others investigated it was authentic. Here is the aftermath . . . See: FoxNews.com - Whale vs. Sailboat

I mean, that would suck so bad to have that happen to your boat, but at the same time that is ridiculously funny. I hope nobody got hurt, but dang if that's not one awesome whale.

[GordMay]

“... The sailors - Ralph Mothes and his partner, Paloma Werner - were uninjured, and the sailboat's steel hull remained intact, allowing the couple to motor back to Cape Town Harbour...”

➥ Whale vs. sailboat