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> “It’s only a matter of time before someone shoots one of these killer whales,” Powell ominously warned. There's no "animal lovers only" screening for boat ow

> “It’s only a matter of time before someone shoots one of these killer whales,” Powell ominously warned. There's no "animal lovers only" screening for boat ownership, and the captains & owners of small boats are often very invested in them (emotionally and/or financially). Reasonable assumption: The shooting started a while ago, it's only scale-up and media coverage that are matters of time.

fullspectrumdev 2y ago
Most of the countries along that coastline (where you would dock, the other side is like Libya) have rather strict laws about the keeping of firearms, which makes shooting somewhat less likely.
- bell-cot 2y ago
  > somewhat less likely. Very well put. Though (as others have pointed out), common small firearms are not well-suited to this use case. Might you know about the legality of spearguns, or similar weapons? I'd guess that small explosive charges - typically used for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_fishing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_fishing - would be both "obvious", and easily available to those least inclined to lawful behavior. And it'd be easy enough to check whether their use would attract real naval or coast guard attention.
svnt 2y ago
It’s the same as farmers with wolves, coyotes, lynx, etc: shoot, shovel, shut up —just without the shoveling. That is, if you get the predator before it gets your object of value, the data point is lost. We have always been at war with Oceania.
317070 2y ago
I remember there was a story of an American sailing yacht which got reported for shooting at the orcas. (Someone heard the shots and used AIS to report the boat to the coastguard) Spanish police entered the boat, found the weapons and last I read they are currently awaiting trial for smuggling weapons and possesion of illegal firearms. It is rare for boats to have guns, as transporting guns between countries is a very difficult affair. Edit, found a source: https://euroweeklynews.com/2023/08/18/sailboat-crew-denounced-after-video-shows-them-firing-shots-at-protected-orcas-in-strait-of-gibraltar/ https://euroweeklynews.com/2023/08/18/sailboat-crew-denounce...
JohnMakin 2y ago
Despite what hollywood movies say, you can’t shoot at underwater objects, the velocity is either completely killed or the bullet shatters. If theyre breaching the surface, the amount of flesh you’d have to pierce to get a kill shot would be a lot. Maybe it would deter them but I think it’d just make them angry and would be a dumb idea.

fullspectrumdev 2y ago

Most of the countries along that coastline (where you would dock, the other side is like Libya) have rather strict laws about the keeping of firearms, which makes shooting somewhat less likely.

bell-cot 2y ago
> somewhat less likely. Very well put. Though (as others have pointed out), common small firearms are not well-suited to this use case. Might you know about the legality of spearguns, or similar weapons? I'd guess that small explosive charges - typically used for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_fishing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_fishing - would be both "obvious", and easily available to those least inclined to lawful behavior. And it'd be easy enough to check whether their use would attract real naval or coast guard attention.

svnt 2y ago

It’s the same as farmers with wolves, coyotes, lynx, etc: shoot, shovel, shut up —just without the shoveling. That is, if you get the predator before it gets your object of value, the data point is lost. We have always been at war with Oceania.

317070 2y ago

I remember there was a story of an American sailing yacht which got reported for shooting at the orcas. (Someone heard the shots and used AIS to report the boat to the coastguard) Spanish police entered the boat, found the weapons and last I read they are currently awaiting trial for smuggling weapons and possesion of illegal firearms. It is rare for boats to have guns, as transporting guns between countries is a very difficult affair. Edit, found a source: https://euroweeklynews.com/2023/08/18/sailboat-crew-denounced-after-video-shows-them-firing-shots-at-protected-orcas-in-strait-of-gibraltar/ https://euroweeklynews.com/2023/08/18/sailboat-crew-denounce...

JohnMakin 2y ago

Despite what hollywood movies say, you can’t shoot at underwater objects, the velocity is either completely killed or the bullet shatters. If theyre breaching the surface, the amount of flesh you’d have to pierce to get a kill shot would be a lot. Maybe it would deter them but I think it’d just make them angry and would be a dumb idea.