Killer whales launch ‘orchestrated’ attacks on sailing boats

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by GordMay

What Mediterranean Sea?
The Mediterranean is doomed!

One day, the Mediterranean might dry up again*. If/when the Strait of Gibraltar closes, the Mediterranean would likely run dry in about 1,000 years.

Africa and Europe are slowly colliding, in a process that has lasted for 40m years, pushing up the Alps and Pyrenees along the way. This continental drift will continue long into the future, until 50m years from now, when the two continents meet, becoming one mega-continent: Eurafrica, and the Mediterranean will disappear — forever this time.

* Messinian salinity crisis: the Mediterranean Sea evaporated over a period of about 1,000 years, about 5.96 to 5.33 Ma (million years ago). The area turned into a dry basin, 3 to 5 km below sea level, punctuated with salty lakes similar to today’s Dead Sea. As slowly as the crisis set in, it ended with dramatic speed, about 5.3 million years ago, in a megaflood (Zanclean deluge) the likes of which the world had never seen.

Hahaha… but before that happens, we will see this:

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Tupaia

This is good news about the tagging.

.

It is a move in the right direction, in my view. Hopefully it means the authorities are starting to take the problem seriously and considering the devastation and risk to human life that has been experienced by some cruising sailors.

Unfortunately, up to now they have done little of practical value.

[Montanan]

The orca boat attacks are likely to escalate, former SeaWorld trainer says. 'Orcas love having fun, but they can have a darker side.'

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...95746298&ei=38


A former SeaWorld orca trainer spoke to Bloomberg about the rise in orca attacks on boats.

It was "100% predictable," said John Hargrove.

When sailors are out at sea, they should remember they are in the orcas' territory,

[Tupaia]

Some examples of the damage being caused.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ng-attack.html

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Tupaia

Some examples of the damage being caused.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ng-attack.html

"he rudder was 2ft thick and made from laminated metal and fibreglass. Designed to guide the yacht Mustique safely through the heaviest seas, it had been snapped off as easily as a soggy biscuit."

Yet to see a two foot thick rudder... but then, it is the Daily Mail..

[Montanan]

A ship captain attacked by an orca is worried boaters are going to start shooting killer whales

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...6bcd0bac&ei=18

A ship captain harassed by a pod of orcas last month said he's worried that headlines about recent killer whale attacks will lead boaters to start shooting the marine mammals.

"I am very concerned about the near future for these beasts and I think we have a huge responsibility to protect these animals," Sébastien Destremau told Newsweek. "The problem we have is that media are emphasizing the aggression and so people are getting armed. They're getting a shotgun onboard their boat."

. . .

Destremau urged sailors not to take rash action against the sea giants, Newsweek reported.

"It's their world. It's not ours,"

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Montanan

A ship captain attacked by an orca is worried boaters are going to start shooting killer whales

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...6bcd0bac&ei=18

A ship captain harassed by a pod of orcas last month said he's worried that headlines about recent killer whale attacks will lead boaters to start shooting the marine mammals.

"I am very concerned about the near future for these beasts and I think we have a huge responsibility to protect these animals," Sébastien Destremau told Newsweek. "The problem we have is that media are emphasizing the aggression and so people are getting armed. They're getting a shotgun onboard their boat."

. . .

Destremau urged sailors not to take rash action against the sea giants, Newsweek reported.

"It's their world. It's not ours,"

A voice of reason not hysteria..
Cowboys not required..

[chubby]

Originally Posted by CaptainRivet

Well if you hurt the youngster mum, daddy and uncle is comming each 10m long and 8-10t heavy and your boat plus you will be smashed to pieces....
So not a good idea unles you have serious amount of underwater dynamit with you...

so....your saying we're gonna need a bigger gun.



i get ya...

[chubby]

Originally Posted by Montanan

A ship captain attacked by an orca is worried boaters are going to start shooting killer whales

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...6bcd0bac&ei=18

A ship captain harassed by a pod of orcas last month said he's worried that headlines about recent killer whale attacks will lead boaters to start shooting the marine mammals.

"I am very concerned about the near future for these beasts and I think we have a huge responsibility to protect these animals," Sébastien Destremau told Newsweek. "The problem we have is that media are emphasizing the aggression and so people are getting armed. They're getting a shotgun onboard their boat."

. . .

Destremau urged sailors not to take rash action against the sea giants, Newsweek reported.

"It's their world. It's not ours,"

seems to me many are just waiting for the 1st humans to lose their life because of this..



i am grateful that our hippie friends are so grateful to sacrifice their lives for the orca's playtime... but most folks probably value their life (and boat) more.



to me all humans have the right to defends themselves...this is a universal law.

and it is irrelevant if the theat walks on 2 legs or has flippers and a tail



that said..

buckshot from a shotgun is absolutely a deterrent against the unorganized idiot fisherman with a machete that plays the occasional pirate...

..but it wont penetrate sufficiently against you favorite sea monster unfortunately.



imo, the 300 win mag would be most efficient at stopping the random shark or giant porpoise that wants to gnaw off you rudder...but is cumbersome (and harder to explain why you want to import a sniper rifle)


i'd stick with a proven dangerous beast stoppers..preferably in a form that makes border agent's jobs easy. (a pistol)

/relatively smaller guns and shotgums= easier @borders

//yes the 500 win mags more are expensive...but is proven "stopper" at showtime

[boatman61]

So.. when are you sailing over to Portugal/Spain to show us how it's done..

[HeinSdL]

I think on the whole there are more than enough ideas on this thread (most importantly, using the apps available to localize the pod and staying clear, like eg you would a storm) to not have to continue the unwelcome discussion of shooting the animals if needed.

Now the response to the storm analogy would be that one needs to be prepared just in case. That would be correct but at the same time, risk to life increases in any decent storm so you've got to be OK with that too. So, take sensible measures to not interact with the animals and accept at least some risks in life. Not in this case to life because by the time you almost get eaten by an orca you will have been lifted off the boat (a boat incidentally which sank because it lost its rudder? If that's a concern then build a water tight compartment around the rudder stock.)

I would not like to live in a world where risk and potential loss have been eliminated, it would be super boring. Nothing hippie about that.

[Adelie]

Thread closed pending Mod review.