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“They seemed more aggressive/playful when we were sailing at speed. Once we slowed down they also started to be less aggressive in their attacks” This is an in
by swalling 3y ago
“They seemed more aggressive/playful when we were sailing at speed. Once we slowed down they also started to be less aggressive in their attacks”
This is an interesting detail. It definitely supports the leading theories, that either they’re playing (chasing fast moving things is more fun) or reacting defensively after the pod experienced a ship collision.
Orcas are afraid of literally nothing. They can eat great white sharks and blue whale calves. The only solution here is probably to explore something as a nonlethal deterrent, like spikes on hulls/rudders or an underwater klaxon.
- prh8 3y ago> only solution here is probably to explore something as a nonlethal deterrent Or we could stop boating in their space
- swalling 3y agoGood luck halting all small craft boating in the Strait of Gibraltar.
- zzzeek 3y agoIt would appear the orcas do not share your defeatist attitude
- SllX 3y agoIt would be better if they did share his defeatist attitude because it isn’t a fight they can win either, nor one humans are likely to choose to lose. I like Orcas. I don’t want to see them attacked. :(
- AlecSchueler 3y agoIs there really no middle ground where we can attempt to reach a diplomatic solution?
- willis936 3y agoWell, it seems, we're in the midst of a communication breakdown. We've lost all hope of speaking with the whales.
- AlecSchueler 3y agoOops, we were supposed to be speaking with the dolphins!
- sellmesoap 3y agoTechnically Orcas are dolphins.
- AlecSchueler 3y agoYes that's why we need to talk to dolphins in order to negotiate with the orcas rather than whales. That's the joke kind of thing.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- rakoo 3y agoSo, because people are doing it we can't have laws that say it's not desired ?
- jancsika 3y agoUnfortunately, human communication is extremely complex. Researchers are only beginning to scratch its surface. The current approach is to fit them with helmets that project sounds and images of boats for the humans to sail in. Then it's just a matter of shooting the relevant humans with non-lethal darts and fitting them with the helmets. However, that's easier said than done. And there are latency issues with the helmets. (Not to mention early research suggesting they become less likely to mate, plus a whole host of health issues which we don't see in the wild.)
- 2-718-281-828 3y agoi like your humor ;D leaves me a little confused but in a pleasant way.
- TeMPOraL 3y agoGP was mentioning possible solutions. You are reaching for impossible ones.
- nomel 3y agoAnd, now you've land locked North America: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3/styles/original/s3/dam-migration/killer_whale_range.png?itok=bDE5y3OZ https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3/styles/original/s3/dam-mig...
- xp84 3y agoA small price to pay to make sure orcas are never annoyed again!
- curtis3389 3y agoI, for one, welcome our new oceanic overlords. We need a new direction for our civilization, and more whalesong is one I can get on board with.
- xp84 3y agoSo… the ocean? (Nobody tell this person how the device they’re using was transported to their continent.)
- irrational 3y agoAren’t they pretty much everywhere? Or, do you mean, don’t use the Oceans at all?
- cjbgkagh 3y agoWhen the race stopped they also made a bunch of noise to scare away the orcas, sailboats are probably pretty quite gliding. If I was an orca and someone made a bunch of noise around me I’d sink them too.
- tptacek 3y agoOrcas are apparently afraid of pilot whales.
- swalling 3y agoFascinating, I didn’t know that. Apparently it’s like crows mobbing an owl or an eagle. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10211-022-00394-1 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10211-022-00394-1
- 2-718-281-828 3y agonot really afraid. pilot whales are just obviously super intelligent and so orcas respect them a lot.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 3y ago> The only solution here is probably to explore something as a nonlethal deterrent, like spikes on hulls/rudders or an underwater klaxon. Or lethal means. Orcas are smart enough to figure out that messing with boats will result in death and pass that around.
- alexdeloy 3y agoIIRC Iberian orcas are endangered. Besides that, just suggesting to kill a living being for merely disturbing some irrelevant boat race that takes place in the domain of that creature is beyond me.
- harimau777 3y agoWhat makes the boat race irrelevant? Boat racing is a fairly long running tradition that is an important part of many cultures.
- hulitu 3y ago> What makes the boat race irrelevant? Boat racing is a fairly long running tradition that is an important part of many cultures. "Hey, Tatuco, didn't you have this custom tossing live people into that volcano ? Yes, but not for 200 years. Ever think of reviving that custom ?" Buddy, Buddy
- harimau777 3y agoYou didn't answer my question.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- pedalpete 3y agoMy initial reaction was also something along the lines of spikes, but though it may be non-lethal, it isn't non-harmful, and depending on the unknown logic of an Orca, it may just force them to find an alternative method.
- aaomidi 3y agoUhm. No.
- nomel 3y agoI was thinking some small electrodes, that run down the fin, to give them an uncomfortable tingle when they try to contact it. That way, it would still maintain a direct cause->effect relation from the fin, and not directly related to a human. There are electric shark deterrent systems, but I don't think they're very good at speed, where the electrodes could be applied to the fin, using marine-readied conductive tape, or just thin wires at the leading/trailing edges.
- helsinkiandrew 3y agoApparently dropping sand from the aft of your boat acts as a good deterrent: “sprinkling sand into the water around the rudder confuses the orca’s sonar” during an interaction, the Cruising Association has said. “The orcas are coming in on sonar, not sight, we know that,” said John Burbeck, the Orca Project team leader at the Cruising Association. “And a few kilogrammes of sand around the rudder confuses that sonar picture they’re picking up.” https://www.pbo.co.uk/news/orca-sand-deterrence-77513 https://www.pbo.co.uk/news/orca-sand-deterrence-77513
- robertsdionne 3y agoI think you'd rather use glitter.
- soligern 3y ago[flagged]
- piloto_ciego 3y agoMy theory is that we’re going to fast in the orca equivalent of a school zone.