Orca continued – Thursday 3rd August 2023

Orca continued – Thursday 3rd August 2023

I thought I’d make a suggestion, having read that this behaviour of damaging small boats had grown to now involve a number of Orca. The concern being that this activity could continue to increase to include other Orca groups.

And the more often it occurs, the chance of a person or Orca getting injured will also increase. My thought was to take along a couple of Orca friendly objects in the boat and should your boat be approached and the behaviour start, bring out the objects. I thought a good, bouncy, medium weight (not easily burst) soccer type ball might entertain and distract them. And something like a large soft ring that might make a cute sound if chewed on. (Like a dog chew toy style object, but not something that could get swallowed by an Orca).

This could redirect them away from the negative activity. In Orca terms they probably might find some humour in such play and might go on about their business after some pleasant interaction. If they still persist in damaging the boat though, in my opinion, they aren’t playing. Perhaps safely moving the boat away to another spot.

Doing something to frighten them off might be misconstrued as hostility or possibly threatening, which might have them react badly. They seem very gentle, outside of when they hunt, but they are still wild and it would be awful if a situation occurred, so I wanted to make this suggestion in hope it might be seen by somebody who goes boating in the vicinity of this Orca family group.

Fiona MacLeod (C)