Whales . . . Should Cruisers Care ?

[Wotname]

Just don't fly a Japanese flag and you should be OK from whale aggression

[waterdog]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

There were a few incidents along the British Columbia coast were an Orca was pushing sail boats around and people had to call the CCG. I knew one of boats myself just three slips away in my marina.

But the word was is was most likely the bull was seeking attention. :kissy:

Luna was an Orca separated from his pod. There were several attempts to lure him back out to sea. For months on end he would "socialize" with other boats. Bent shafts. Knocked outboards off. Destroyed gear. Caused a lot of trouble. He was loved and hated. In the end, he had an unfortunate socialization with a tug boat prop.

[David M]

Whales "attack" boats so infrequently that I think it is the least of your worries out on the water. I also doubt whales have the ability to pass the word along to their fellow whales that humans are the enemy.

I recorded and watched the whole Sea Shepherd series. Although a worthy cause, I think it is going over the top putting two crew members on board a whaling ship. The throwing of stink chemicals at the whaling ship is also of questionable value.

I saw lots of bad seamanship, unprofessional behavior, very poor communications, chaotic times where nobody was in charge, disrespect for the chain of command, the Captain not roused when a small boat goes missing, binge drinking condoned by the Captain and lots of things that made me cringe and sometimes laugh out loud at the ineptitude. Its rather surprising they made it from Australia to Antarctica and back.

Seriously, someone needs to teach them how to run a ship before people die as a result of their unprofessionalism. People like that should not be put in charge of running a ship. Its just a matter of time before something disastrous happens.

It is a very entertaining series though...that's the good thing.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by waterdog

Luna was an Orca separated from his pod. There were several attempts to lure him back out to sea. For months on end he would "socialize" with other boats. Bent shafts. Knocked outboards off. Destroyed gear. Caused a lot of trouble. He was loved and hated. In the end, he had an unfortunate socialization with a tug boat prop.

He lost his keel???!!!!

[wstu]

I heard of one guy who put a white strip on the hull so whales would not think he was another whale.

[Delezynski]

Make a trip to San Ignacio and do a whale watching trip. YOU WILL NEVER be the same!

You can see a part of our at:

YouTube - Whale watching trip

They touch your hart and sole....

Greg

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Wotname

Just don't fly a Japanese flag and you should be OK from whale aggression

That made me laugh last night when I read it and still laughing this morning!

[waterdog]

Originally Posted by Therapy

He lost his keel???!!!!

Uh. Umm. Uh.

No.

It was quite a lot messier than that I'm afraid. The prop on a 104 foot tug boat sucks a fair bit of water and...

Luna is not with us any more. He's gone to be with the great pod in the ...

[cptnandy]

Actually, a couple years ago a boat returning from the pacific cup was rammed and sunk by a whale about 500 miles northwest of Honolulu. The pod of whales swam past the boat and then one of them turned around, went back and rammed the vessel, it sank a couple hours later. Latitude 38 had a story about the event.

[Maren]

Originally Posted by cptnandy

Actually, a couple years ago a boat returning from the pacific cup was rammed and sunk by a whale about 500 miles northwest of Honolulu. The pod of whales swam past the boat and then one of them turned around, went back and rammed the vessel, it sank a couple hours later. Latitude 38 had a story about the event.

Right, but the question is not are there whale collisions with boats, rather are the whale strikes due to some sort malicious intent on behalf of the whales.

[Kanani]

Originally Posted by cptnandy

Actually, a couple years ago a boat returning from the pacific cup was rammed and sunk by a whale about 500 miles northwest of Honolulu. The pod of whales swam past the boat and then one of them turned around, went back and rammed the vessel, it sank a couple hours later. Latitude 38 had a story about the event.

A yacht making a passage has about as much chance of getting hit by lightening as being hit by a whale. If this sort of thing concerns someone, they should re-think if they want to go out there or not. That person should never get in an automobile.......there really are other vehicles out there that are out to get you....

The reality is......bordom is a much larger concern than either of those scenarios....

Be concerned about maintenance and forget about "Jaws".

[imagine2frolic]

Read The Whaleship Essex, and you will believe that whales will attack with intent. Of course the whalers were killing the bull's herd. You can't hold that against him. I would do the same if someone was killing my family................i2f

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by Kanani

A yacht making a passage has about as much chance of getting hit by lightening as being hit by a whale.

I'm afraid that the odds are much greater than that, at least in some areas. During the 2008 Pacific Cup several boats struck whales within the first few hundred miles after leaving San Francisco. There were no major problems this year, in contrast to the 2006 sinking of "Mureadrittas XL" on her return passage (mentioned by cptnandy). This year one boat did have her rudder damaged by the impact, but they were able to repair and continue.

On our return trip (after the race) we brushed against a humpback on our approach to San Francisco, about 50 miles offshore. I've posted this before, but we were taking video of a pod of dolphins at the time and happened to capture the whale encounter: Whale Encounter « VALIS

As far as I know, none of the Pacific Cup fleet were struck by lightning this year.

[theonecalledtom]

Not that this keeps me awake at night but there are several reports of attacks by pilot whales, including the sinking of a couple in the mid pacific a few years ago (they survived after a long time in a life raft - there's a book about it....)

I heard that pouring something nasty in the water, like diesel, can make them back off as the film gets into their blow holes. Seems like a last resort but definately better than emptying your entire tank in the water by virtue of sinkage.

[Pblais]

I heard that pouring something nasty in the water, like diesel, can make them back off as the film gets into their blow holes. Seems like a last resort but definately better than emptying your entire tank in the water by virtue of sinkage.

The only way that works is to assume every encounter would be violent. The general track records says whale encounters are not violent but more often the exact opposite. Many would want to encourage them. It makes the approach difficult when most whales don't attack.

To take some counter measures would require you to take action as soon as any whale was sighted. The only advice I have seen to that extent is to always alter course upon any whale sighting as soon as possible to minimze the chance of contact. In the dark it's not really possible to do much of anything let alone predict where they might be.

It's a little bit silly to assume as the whale gets ready to split you open you will know it for what it is ("My God he is going to ram us!) and quickly dump 10 gallons of fuel into the water to hope he gets a bad taste and veers away. Whales can stay under a long time so this oil slick is going to need to be dispersed in a large area to be effective assuming that it really is and that he would be out of breath just before he got there to have his way with your boat.

Maybe just bouncing a rock off his head would be enough.