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