Can Orcas be Stopped from Attacking Yachts ? and other news

Discussion in 'All Things Boats & Boating' started by rwatson, Apr 12, 2024.

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  1. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    Spreading Sand in the water seems to be most effective to prevent yacht attacks, but diesel and urine don't work.

    Vindictive Orcas can be tracked with a GTOrcas App by concerned Yachties.

    Fishermen are being plagued by Orca Pirates, losing up to 40% of their catch around the world.

    Then, there are Orcas who wear Salmon as hats


    upload_2024-4-13_12-8-26.png

     
  2. Ike
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    Ike Senior Member

    Recently a study done in the Pacific northwest has shown that there are actually three species of Orcas, and they have different diets. The Resident orcas in the PNW never leave here and they eat salmon. But the other Orcas who leave and travel do not. Two Types Of Orcas Are Actually Two Separate Species, Scientists Argue https://www.iflscience.com/two-types-of-orcas-are-actually-two-separate-species-scientists-argue-73605 One species called the Biggs Orcas feed mainly on marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and other whales. The other species, the Offshore Orcas, feed mainly on Fish, but they pick on larger fish such as sharks, rays, skates, but not salmon. Some have even been known to attack Great White Sharks. How to stop them from attacking boats, I don't have a clue, but recently a group studying communications between whales have actually been able to talk to whales using recordings of whales sounds. However they don't know exactly what was said, but they're working on that. Maybe they'll figure out a way to simply say "stop". I think the attacks are simply over food. They see boats as competition for their food so they attack it to drive it off.
     
  3. portacruise
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    portacruise Senior Member

    Make the Rudders out of conducting material and temporarily electrifiy them just enough to shock /repel- but not hurt the orcas?
     
  4. BlueBell
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    BlueBell . . . _ _ _ . . . _ _ _

    Anyone familiar with the term anthropomorphism?
    As a past whale watching guide, I have spent many hours observing Resident orca.
    They are the top predator of the world ocean.
    Think about it.
     
  5. Will Gilmore
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    Will Gilmore Senior Member

    How Smart are Orcas
    "...orcas are smart that they can learn the language of another species and use it to their advantage."

    "...they teach their offspring and to imitate other creatures. They also have advanced communication skills. They pass learned behaviors from generation to generation — a form of animal culture."

    "They’re also playful, curious, and just like us, they exhibit a wide range of emotions."

    If they have decided the rudders of boats are like toys, they can likely be broken of the habit. However, it would not be an easy task. Substitution, positive and negative reinforcement, pod isolation, all require time and absolute commitment.

    If they are doing it to intimidate or drive off competitors or territory invaders, I would guess that will be even harder, because their motivation is likely stronger. But, I would think that if that was their motivation, they wouldn't just attack a vessel's rudder.

    Revenge. Maybe they are angry and just seeking revenge. It's possible they are the rudder as a danger to them or the source of some past offense. In that case, maybe they can learn to avoid the danger and tire of the game.

    No other motivation comes to mind. They haven't killed and eaten anyone, correct?

    My Shepard will never get tired of chasing balls, but what if I took her out every day and just threw a docent balls at once? What of they became so common and overwhelming that she looked at a flying ball as just confusing work? Maybe it would be possible to make her sick of it and want to move on to something else? "Chase a ball? BTDT, let's move on."

    -Will
     
  6. Ike
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    Ike Senior Member

    I spent a lot of time thinking about this last night while trying to get to sleep. On that video they suggested that it was mainly young Orcas that do this. These are very intelligent creatures. Maybe it's a game young Orcas have invented. The idea of electrifying the rudder presents problems. Even if done momentarily, introducing a current into the water around a boat has risks. I can foresee something going awry while the boat is at the dock and now the rudder is passing current into the water around the boat.
     
  7. TeddyDiver
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    TeddyDiver Gollywobbler

  8. C. Dog
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    C. Dog Senior Member

    We have dealt with inconvenient cetaceans historically by hunting them to near extinction and it seemed effective.
     
  9. portacruise
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    portacruise Senior Member

    Who knows, Orcas might just be defending their territory against Intruders, like a lot of animals do, while having fun humiliating a much more powerful and intelligent entity, ha!

    Even if electrified Rudders did introduce problems, would it rank very high compared to all of the life threatening issues associated with operating a yacht, is my humble question?

    The Rudder could theoretically be set up so there is never electrical current passing into the water, when it works by touch contact with its surface only (once it is in the "on" position). That's basically how a single strand of wire can serve as an electrical fence for beefy animals weighing thousands of pounds, without electrocuting anyone that walks by or touches it. The voltage can be set High Enough to cause a sting without any serious damage if the current is kept extremely low, say in the microamps region. It's the amps that kills, is what I learned in my physics class many years ago. More information at this link in post 39, 41 and 43.


    Here Russian around the world inflatable sailing cat ended by shark attacks https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/russian-around-the-world-inflatable-sailing-cat-ended-by-shark-attacks.68385/page-3

    Hope this helps.
     
  10. Will Gilmore
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    Will Gilmore Senior Member

    An electric livestock fence is not immersed in an electrolytic; and it is neither amps nor volts that kill, it is the combined amps x volts that kill. There is no current without voltage.
     
  11. C. Dog
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    C. Dog Senior Member

    Maybe something short and sharp like a very high voltage, low current TASER might dissuade them. It wouldn't be good for humans to be hit, but not often fatal if there was an accident. People will start shooting them if it continues.
     
  12. Will Gilmore
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    Will Gilmore Senior Member

    Here in Northern New England, fish and game have gotten serious about limiting nuisance bears who raid campsites for food. Besides fines for leaving food out, F&G will loan hikers and campers bear-proof food storage boxes to keep their supplies in.

    The instructions that come with the loans include chaining the box around a tree where the bears can get to them. The idea is that after bears have fail a few times to get into a box, they will understand that a bear box full of food is not a successful endeavor, and they will eventually learn to ignore a bear box that is within reach, and move on.

    Perhapse, if some good solid steel rudders are mounted on area patrol boats and the orca can't affect the boat parts, the orca may learn the futility of the game and move on.

    -Will
     
  13. fallguy
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    fallguy Senior Member

  14. portacruise
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    portacruise Senior Member

    Hi, Will. Thanks for your contributions to the forum!

    Yes, agree that my written statement wasn't a good one the way it stands, just thought everyone would catch my drift, without my having to explain in time consuming, extreme detail.

    It's also not true that " combined volts x amps " is what kills- so long as there's enough surface resistance insulation that the voltage cannot pierce. But I get your drift, and don't necessarily disagree with that statement, knowing that you're familiar with electricity principles.

    Here's a video about the amps at about 6 minutes, and the role of insulation early on.

    van de graaff generator maximum voltage at DuckDuckGo https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=van+de+graaff+generator+maximum+voltage&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DubZuSZYVBng
     

  15. C. Dog
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    C. Dog Senior Member

    What is not being mentioned in relation to marine animal aggression is the indisputable fact that humans have trashed this planet and made it uninhabitable for many species. There have been numerous shark attacks around the coastline here, and our **** and pillage, driven by hubristic greed, continues unabated. Mars may receive a fellow desert planet at some point if these psychopaths continue running head first into a wall.
     
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