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Orca rams into yacht near Scotland, suggesting the behavior may be spreading

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Orca rams into yacht near Scotland, suggesting the behavior may be spreading

#71

Post by mcpackieh »

ceejayoz wrote: post #68
mcpackieh wrote: post #53

I've never believed that orcas have always left humans alone. I think they began leaving humans alone when commercial whaling took off and they witnessed first hand how dangerous humans can be to whales. Maybe that generational memory is now fading. Yeah I know the argument that humans are too bony and taste bad, but how would they know we taste bad if they never even take a nibble to taste test us? These are very in…

> These are very intelligent mammals, they should be curious about how we taste. Maybe they're intelligent enough to recognize our intelligence, and don't want to attack other intelligent beings?

Maybe, but they don't seem to have much pity/respect for other intelligent animals. Particularly, they devour baby whales of other species.

Re: Orca rams into yacht near Scotland, suggesting the behavior may be spreading

#72

Post by OmarShehata »

zeroonetwothree wrote: post #65
anigbrowl wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

something of a coincidence Orcas do go in for fads (look up 'orca salmon hats') but experts oftentimes dismiss things as coincidence because they don't have a theory and don't want to look stupid by speculating. When I was growing up reports of ball lightning were dismissed as hallucinations or optical illusions until video and spectrographic technology advanced sufficiently to capture the phenomenon: https://en.wiki…

That link says: “Owing to the lack of reproducible data, the existence of ball lightning as a distinct physical phenomenon remains unproven”

There are videos of it, and lots of people have seen it, not sure how much more proof you need:

> An optical spectrum of what appears to have been a ball lightning event was published in January 2014 and included a video at high frame rate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bBNeyrMOJE

I think what that sentence is saying is that we don't know how to reproduce it in a lab. We don't know what exactly is happening in the real world that is causing us to perceive this. It could be an illusion I guess, but I think it's undisputed it's a real phenomenon.

Re: Orca rams into yacht near Scotland, suggesting the behavior may be spreading

#73

Post by dmvdoug »

cowthulhu wrote: post #60
dmvdoug wrote: post #50

Not going to lie, friends: I’m rooting for the whales.

The orcas are attacking small sailboats, which tend to have less of an environmental impact… less engine use, quiet, fewer people on board, very small scale fishing (if at all). It’s weird to be rooting against this sort of ship when cruise ships and trawlers are the real problem - and also pretty difficult to attack. Will you count it as a success if people favor larger powerboats over small sailboats?

Oh, I think you misunderstood. I’m rooting for the whales as against all the humans. ;)

Re: Orca rams into yacht near Scotland, suggesting the behavior may be spreading

#74

Post by wouldbecouldbe »

mcpackieh wrote: post #53

I've never believed that orcas have always left humans alone. I think they began leaving humans alone when commercial whaling took off and they witnessed first hand how dangerous humans can be to whales. Maybe that generational memory is now fading. Yeah I know the argument that humans are too bony and taste bad, but how would they know we taste bad if they never even take a nibble to taste test us? These are very in…

Some argue they are selective eaters and generally eat what they are thought by their pod while growing up.

Re: Orca rams into yacht near Scotland, suggesting the behavior may be spreading

#76

Post by belter »

Pulcinella wrote: post #4
aurizon wrote: post #3

Just add a low voltage electric fence to 2 plates glued underwater at port and starboard. Salt water conducts, also Orca's conduct - some small current flow that will be repellant to the Orca's, but not harmful. They do this to repel carp swimming upriver. one of those, with proper voltage and current limiting should be felt by an orca, but not harm the orca. A little experimentation will find a safe repellant level.

BRB, passing these plans to the Orcas so they can start working on a work-around.

Use encryption and digital signatures. You might be subject to a fish-in-the-middle attack.

Re: Orca rams into yacht near Scotland, suggesting the behavior may be spreading

#77

Post by thatwasunusual »

mcpackieh wrote: post #71
ceejayoz wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These are very intelligent mammals, they should be curious about how we taste. Maybe they're intelligent enough to recognize our intelligence, and don't want to attack other intelligent beings?

Maybe, but they don't seem to have much pity/respect for other intelligent animals. Particularly, they devour baby whales of other species.

So do we, _and_ we attack our "own intelligence."

Re: Orca rams into yacht near Scotland, suggesting the behavior may be spreading

#78

Post by 29athrowaway »

Go team Orca.

Humans are jerks. Sonar makes orcas bleed from their ears.

Orcas are also used as circus animals (i.e.: SeaWorld), and some of them get so aggravated that they commit suicide by bumping their heads against the pool walls.

Orcas should attack more often, I fully approve of it.

In fact, we should help orcas multiply in numbers so that the yacht enthusiasts get displaced and leave the sea to the creatures doing a free service for the environment.

Re: Orca rams into yacht near Scotland, suggesting the behavior may be spreading

#79

Post by hombre_fatal »

OmarShehata wrote: post #72
zeroonetwothree wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That link says: “Owing to the lack of reproducible data, the existence of ball lightning as a distinct physical phenomenon remains unproven”

There are videos of it, and lots of people have seen it, not sure how much more proof you need: > An optical spectrum of what appears to have been a ball lightning event was published in January 2014 and included a video at high frame rate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bBNeyrMOJE I think what that sentence is saying is that we don't know how to reproduce it in a lab. We don't know what exactly is happening in the…

> There are videos of it, and lots of people have seen it, not sure how much more proof you need

That describes Bigfoot. I’d hope your epidemic standard is beyond anecdotes + videos that report to show what they report they’re showing. Else you can be made to believe anything.

I don’t know enough about ball lightning to care one way or another.

Re: Orca rams into yacht near Scotland, suggesting the behavior may be spreading

#80

Post by hinkley »

koheripbal wrote: post #34
fasthands9 wrote: post #21

I dont really get how this is suggested seriously as a new behavior. The inspiration for Moby Dick, one of the most read books in English, was based on a ship sunk my sperm whales: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex_(whaleship) Yes I know orcas and sperm whales are different, but its weird that this is suggested a new behavior in general. And not just a new counting of something that has been going on for centuries.

This comment is strange. Sperm whale from Moby dick's era routinely flight back when harpooned. Today's killer whale behavior is clearly new, and nearly the only violent behavior seen in any whale in a hundred years. .. and with multiple recent reports, it is a new trend.

Toward humans.

At least one pod has learned to hunt and kill great whites, which may not be new to orcas but was news to us.

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