Not good news
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ern-waters
North sea Orcas now on the attack
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BlowingOldBoots
Re: North sea Orcas now on the attack
Thanks for sharing and very interesting. I wouldn't worry about it. Most sailors in the Iberian waters never encounter Orcas, never mind Orcas that strike their boats. Likely even rarer up north.
Interesting that the professor suggests that amongst other things, increasing human interaction could be to blame. There was a time when small sailing cargo vessels and Orcas were far more numerous and I wonder if this was an issue back then, before large scale slaughter started (which was an industrial revolution thing for lubrication as opposed to lamp oil).
Interesting that the professor suggests that amongst other things, increasing human interaction could be to blame. There was a time when small sailing cargo vessels and Orcas were far more numerous and I wonder if this was an issue back then, before large scale slaughter started (which was an industrial revolution thing for lubrication as opposed to lamp oil).
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Nick
- Admiral of the Blue
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Re: North sea Orcas now on the attack
Sorry Boots, you are wrong when it comes to the severity of the Iberian orca problem.
Orca attacks on the Iberian coast are now running at an average of over one a day, in spite of massive behavioural changes in the sailing community.
Everyone is worried, people are being forced to sail ludicrously close to shore in depths as shallow as 4m to avoid the animals, night passages are out of the questiion, people heading for the ARC / Madeira / Canaries are bypassing Galicia and Portugal altogether, people are holing up in ports for weeks waiting for the orca to move from their area.
Three boats have been sunk, a loss of life is only a matter of time.
If this behaviour does spread to the orca population round UK shores the impact on recreational sailing could be huge. Let's hope the Shetland incident was a one-off.
Orca attacks on the Iberian coast are now running at an average of over one a day, in spite of massive behavioural changes in the sailing community.
Everyone is worried, people are being forced to sail ludicrously close to shore in depths as shallow as 4m to avoid the animals, night passages are out of the questiion, people heading for the ARC / Madeira / Canaries are bypassing Galicia and Portugal altogether, people are holing up in ports for weeks waiting for the orca to move from their area.
Three boats have been sunk, a loss of life is only a matter of time.
If this behaviour does spread to the orca population round UK shores the impact on recreational sailing could be huge. Let's hope the Shetland incident was a one-off.
- Nick 
