Orcas - What would you do if this happened to you?

[charliepsycho]

I'm not entirely sure there is anything we can or should do.

Do we turn up with defensive measures against icebergs? No... we just don't sail where there are icebergs... If for some reason you do have to sail near icebergs, you choose a vessel that is capable of coping with them, e.g. not a plastic fantastic...

Some of the boats that we call blue water cruisers are simply not built to cope with the rigours of real blue water, which includes big waves, obstructions at sea like logs and containers, and indeed whales.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by volksbar

Okami pipe is a trump card. Carry a long metal pipe and a hammer. Once orcas are targeting your rudder, lower the pipe into the water and slam the top part of the tube with your hammer. An unbearable ping sound transmits via the pipe into the water column.

That's how Japanese fishermen drive dolphins into bays. By avoidance behavior from the ping. Orcas are the largest of the dolphin family. Very likely that works, and unlike the Japanese original, one does not need to slaughter them...

This may not be legal in an area where one is supposed to avoid disturbing the cetaceans, but it seems worth a try. We have a small iron pipe on the boat, used on handles of things when I need more leverage. Worth a try to ping on that, even. They'll either perceive it as a reward (like a dog and a clicker) or as an aversive stimulus (like me with mold).

I'd think, if you carry a dive tank, lowering it into the water and hitting it with your dive knife might work, too.

Ann

[Iron E]

I don't have proof yet, but I'm currently testing the effect of an underwater device that plays Yoko Ono singing. Waiting to hear back from various animal welfare authorities to find out if they consider it cruel to animals and marine life

[GordMay]

The Grupo Trabajo Orca Atlantica [GTOA] website contains a wealth of information at ➥ www.orcaiberica.org

“Recommendations” ~ GTOA
➥ https://www.orcaiberica.org/en/recomendaciones

In a study [1], published in the journal ‘Marine Mammal Science’, the researchers point out that the orcas are neither afraid, nor aggressive, but just curious. They seem to be playing.

[1] “Killer whales of the Strait of Gibraltar, an endangered subpopulation showing a disruptive behavior” ~ by Ruth Esteban et al
➥ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/...1111/mms.12947

The Cruising Association [CA] has prepared a checklist of actions, to take, before transiting through the effected areas.
➥ https://www.theca.org.uk/orcas/safety-info

“Comments from skippers on deterrent measures and actions taken during an orca interaction” ~ Cruising Association [CA]
➥ https://www.theca.org.uk/orcas/inter...errent-library

Originally Posted by CA

“... Below are extracts from orca interaction reports submitted to the Cruising Association which are collated by the different deterrent measures and actions taken by the skipper/crew. The aim of extracting this data is to publish an easily researchable library of factors that may or may not impact or deter an interaction and minimise or avoid damage...”

“Analysis of orca interactions by location, year and month, since 2020"
➥ https://www.theca.org.uk/sites/all/m...ation-data.pdf

[astalavistavela]

Originally Posted by trswem

Interesting, why reverse?

Way reverse ? In following the blade rudder (because the cannot swing backward) they would get in contact with the rotating propeller, both in a saildrive or in line drive system.