Leviathan...

[N.A.]

Not sure if this is the right forum for it, but I thought folks here might find this interesting:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2023/03/20/sailboat-hits-whale-pacific-rescue/

Having just taken my Safety at Sea course, I am pretty impressed at their calm, collected response. What a nightmare; glad it worked out as well as it did.

And yes, I plan to leave my electronics on 'charge'

 

[Pete the Cat]

I thought it a bit amazing that a modern boat hitting a whale at 6 kts would be damaged enough to sink. Seems far more likely to result in injuries to people. Makes one wonder about the construction of modern yachts. I hit a rock in Maine in my Tartan 37 at 7+kts that stopped me dead in the water and, while I did have structural damage, the boat never leaked--I sailed it for the remainder of the season. Looking at the brick outhouse TFG of my Ericson makes is a bit difficult to imagine a sinking result from such a collision. But I suppose there are vulnerabilities in all vessels at some point. Tearing a rudder post would be a large vulnerability for sinking.

 

[Christian Williams]

My attention was secured 10 years ago when a whale collided with a boat 10 miles from here. Never bothered thinking about it before.

Since then I have been a bit more aware when whale watching. Odds are low, but still....

Thomas's brother Scott happens to be the manager of the King Harbor Marine boat-repair yard, and said that in addition to the cracked hull, the bulkheads inside the sailboat were separated as result of the whale strikes.

Blue whale strikes boat off Palos Verdes Peninsula

For Ian Jory who’s been sailing all his life, nothing compares to the close encounter with a whale he and his wife experienced off the coast of Palos Verdes earlier this month that left his boat dry…

easyreadernews.com

 

[goldenstate]

Farallones:

 

[Pete the Cat]

Farallones:

View attachment 46382

Where did you see this? I saw a very small whale in SF Bay a couple days ago. Not breaching. Seemed like a calf but it is too early for them.

 

[goldenstate]

Where did you see this? I saw a very small whale in SF Bay a couple days ago. Not breaching. Seemed like a calf but it is too early for them.

This was on the way to or from the Farallones, well outside of the bay, in July of 2021.

@vanilladuck and I also observed a pod of humpbacks bubble-net fishing south of Drake's bay.

I was swimming at Baker beach in the summer of '20 and heard an exhalation "poof" and turned and saw a very big mammal gliding through the water about 25 yards away. The whale population seems robust.

 

[Christian Williams]

Bubble-net fishing, which I hadda look up.

 

[Frank Langer]

I recently learned that while some whales, like orca killer whales, have echolocation ability, others like the humpback do not, and if they're busy feeding, won't really be aware of a boat nearby.
I have had a large male orca swim by my boat only about 6 feet away, and on another day, a humpback swimming alongside my boat about two boat lengths away. Both were amazing experiences! Aside from slowing down and turning off the depth sounder, there's not much one can do to avoid them if they get curious.
Frank

 

[nquigley]

When I read the story at the top of this thread, it made me wonder if there's some sort of whale-repelling (or at least, -alerting) sound that blue-water cruisers could emit continuously - like the Kit-car-like sound that electric cars in Europe emit to alert pedestrians they are coming (I seem to recall it was mandated as a safety thing for visually impaired pedestrians?)

 

[Loren Beach]

"Blue water whale repelling idea" ?

Being Viking sailors, you might try lowering some speakers into the ocean and play this attention-getting little melody.....

 

[vanilladuck]

I was just out yesterday on the SF bay in the lee of Angel Island to the east and witnessed what seemed to be a small pod of whales spouting a near the boat. Or it was one really really fast whale transiting between footprints with lightning speed

Here's a shot of the pod @goldenstate and I saw south of Drakes -- single tail up, but multiple spouts: