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Forums > Sailing General

Orcas...playing?

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Created by mcrt > 9 months ago, 1 Sep 2020
mcrt
638 posts
1 Sep 2020 3:54PM
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The Mirfak, a racing sailboat owned by the spanish navy was being motored down the Galician coast to a race.About 2nm offshore and abeam Ria de Muros a group of 3 Orcas started chasing the boat.
As you see in the vid at first it was usual marine mammals at play behavior,but then the helmsman starts complaining that they are hitting the rudder ,hits get stronger,to the point of being painful for the helmsman.
Eventually they break part of the rudder and stop the chase,apparently biting on the broken off bit left in the wake.

Same day a french sailboat was also knocked around by orcas in the same area and went in to check for damages but i do not have more details of that incident.

Guess it was a rowdy pod,or even a single trouble maker within a pod, other than the Robertsons boat getting sunk i do not know any other sailboat/orca incidents resulting in damage.

This is Mirfak's rudder being repaired,looks like the gel coat has been sanded off exposing the carbon.
Do not know if it had teeth marks or it was just knocked.


r13
NSW, 1613 posts
1 Sep 2020 9:20PM
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Strike one to the Orcas........sorry to see the damage though. Guess that is nature actioning. The Spanish Navy will have plenty of funds to repair that damage. We have only whales, dolphins and porpoises here - every yacht sailing offshore in Aust would have been bombarded by dolphins or porpoises and had to keep a clear watch out for whales. Hope they all keep increasing in numbers going forward. It is a delight in Botany Bay to have dolphins crash tackle our stern and bow as we hurtle along during races.

www.environment.gov.au/marine/marine-species/cetaceans/species-found-australian-waters

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porpoise#:~:text=Porpoises%20are%20a%20group%20of,belugas%20than%20the%20true%20dolphins.

Wavesong
QLD, 145 posts
1 Sep 2020 9:45PM
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Brain affected by human pollutants?

Ramona
NSW, 7661 posts
2 Sep 2020 9:06AM
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In the early '90's I went down to Jervis Bay one night purse seining for bait. For some reason we were late having a shot and after filling the bait tanks left the bay just after dawn to head North to the Banks. I had been up all night so I went below and got my head down and let the deckhands take the boat out. Just got as far as Point Perpendicular right under the cliffs when I was called up. We had stopped and 3 Orcas were swimming around the boat casually. Then the larger one gave an extraordinary performance, leaping about and charging the boat just passing underneath. It lasted about 5 minutes but was a wonderful experience. Often used to encounter Orcas and false killer whales on the shelf but never seen them in close before.

samsturdy
NSW, 1659 posts
2 Sep 2020 9:47AM
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Thinking of a boat like Shaggy's with twin rudders, they seem awfully exposed and vulnerable to such damage.



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Forums > Sailing General


"Orcas...playing?" started by mcrt