Author Topic: Orcas chase surfers out of the water  (Read 23447 times)

blackeye

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Orcas chase surfers out of the water
« on: February 28, 2013, 07:21:26 PM »
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MOtntDW0KnM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

In case the video didn't embed... http://youtu.be/MOtntDW0KnM


surfcowboy

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Re: Orcas chase surfers out of the water
« Reply #1 on: February 28, 2013, 08:57:47 PM »
That was amazing. The seals and the surfers both hightailing it to shallow water. I'd love to see an Orca in the wild... from a boat or shore.

pdxmike

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Re: Orcas chase surfers out of the water
« Reply #2 on: February 28, 2013, 09:20:52 PM »
That was amazing. The seals and the surfers both hightailing it to shallow water. I'd love to see an Orca in the wild... from a boat or shore.
Like this? (From a boat, not my board.)
Orcas are the best thing about Puget Sound and the Northwest.
That was a great video.

JeanG

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Re: Orcas chase surfers out of the water
« Reply #3 on: February 28, 2013, 10:42:33 PM »
I really want to paddle with / near them. Anyone in BC done that?

PonoBill

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Re: Orcas chase surfers out of the water
« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2013, 11:44:44 PM »
They're totally whacky. I spent a month thirty or fo years ago gunkholing around the island in Puget Sound on a big ol' windsurfer towing a little liferaft with my camping gear. I'd call it a poor mans sailboat except that I HAD a sailboat at the time--a tralerable and well rigged Aquarius 23. Did it fo fun.

Anyway, I had Orcas for company probably five or six days out of thirty. They're good company, they know where you are and just seem to like to hang out. It all felt very sociable.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

SoCalSupper

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Re: Orcas chase surfers out of the water
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2013, 06:48:42 AM »
id be doing my best Jesus impersonation if i saw a pod of those dudes-those guys freak me out!
United States Air Force Para-Rescue motto "That others may live"

sup_surf_giant

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Re: Orcas chase surfers out of the water
« Reply #6 on: March 01, 2013, 08:52:30 AM »
Brave or crazy dudes still shredding a la appetizer
Taller than most, shorter than others.

RainWaves

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Re: Orcas chase surfers out of the water
« Reply #7 on: March 01, 2013, 09:18:40 AM »
 Some eat seals, and others eat mainly fish, but they don't advertise what their preferences are! The K-W question is one I get from people around here all the time, "what are you going to do when a pod of them comes by?" My response has always been something like this: " they can hear you from a long ways off (board slapping the water, paddle splashes, etc), and know that you are not a menu item. Curiosity will bring them by I'm sure, and when the day comes that I see one roll under the water and look up at me, I sure I'll sh*t my pants and and hope for the best (not fall in, that is). I've been out with/near Humpbacks, and the concern there  (like in Hawaii) is to not get crushed, or tail slapped. Hope I have my Go-Pro going too!

 I finally did run into about 3-4 K-W's last Month when out in the channel in front of town. I had just crossed over to the Gravina Island side and was working my way up the beach towards the airport, when I saw them in mid-channel, about 200 yards out, heading back down the way I had came. I (honestly) was glad to be in the shallows, and that the water is pretty clear this time of year. So, I kind of hung around, and was keeping an eye out to see where they went, and might come up next.

 Ahead of me was a seal, who was in about 3 feet of water and also looking out to where they had been, (same as me, LOL). He fianlly saw me and bolted, as I was about 20 feet from him. It took a few minutes for them to re-appear, and they had continued down the channel and were about 1/4 mile away at this point. The thing that got to me is that they surfaced right about where I had crossed over from the town side. So, had I been about 5-6 minutes behind where I was, that would have had them right on me :o. Glad that encounter will wait for another day.
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PonoBill

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Re: Orcas chase surfers out of the water
« Reply #8 on: March 01, 2013, 10:33:45 AM »
the only documented Orca attacks have been captive Orcas, which speaks volumes for NOT keeping them captive. They don't like it!  I'm pretty certain an Orca knows the difference between a guy in a wetsuit and a seal, otherwise there would be lots of mistakes. For that matter we'd probably taste OK to the seal eaters, but they know what they're after, at least as well as we can tell the difference between a steak and a 2X4. They probably know exactly what we are a mile away.  These are NOT the seals you're looking for.

During my sojourn in the Puget Island I had them a foot or so away from my board several times, with the dorsal fin so close I could have touched it. I didn't get a feeling of menace at all.

One afternoon when I was coming in to Sucia Island there were two kayakers completely surrounded by a pod and one of the smaller ones was nuzzling and nudging a kayak with a girl in it. She was screaming bloody murder and the weenie guy with her was backpedalling and wetting his drawstring pants. "OK, take the girl, but don't hurt me."  No idea what the Orcas were thinking, but there's a huge difference between an Orca gently nudging a kayak so softly that it doesn't tip, and an actual attack. See any of dozens of youtube videos of Orcas ripping seals in two to get a feeling for the difference. I thought how did these two paddle all that open water and now they're petrified at such a remarkable encounter. Then they paddled back into the bay and got back on the 40 foot powerboat they came on.

I'm sure Rob Casey has had a zillion Orca experiences, with all the kayaking he's done in the Northwest. It's not uncommon if you're in a boat that doesn't threaten them.
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JerseySUP

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Re: Orcas chase surfers out of the water
« Reply #9 on: March 01, 2013, 01:15:27 PM »
That's awesome to see so much ocean life all at once. I'm used to paddling with dolphins (it's amazing how curious they are) but I think seeing an okra for the first time would absolutely scare the crap out of me. Great video, thanks for sharing!

Tom

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Re: Orcas chase surfers out of the water
« Reply #10 on: March 01, 2013, 01:23:09 PM »
Last Sept. I paddled with one in Baja. Only the second time I've seen one in the wild.

pdxmike

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Re: Orcas chase surfers out of the water
« Reply #11 on: March 01, 2013, 01:48:32 PM »
That's awesome to see so much ocean life all at once. I'm used to paddling with dolphins (it's amazing how curious they are) but I think seeing an okra for the first time would absolutely scare the crap out of me. Great video, thanks for sharing!
I have a similar dread of running into Belgian endive. 

 ;D

RainWaves

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Re: Orcas chase surfers out of the water
« Reply #12 on: March 01, 2013, 01:53:07 PM »
 My nephew was swimming across some shallows to a small Island, from a dock at a Forest Service cabin near town about 8 years ago, and had an Orca come up from behind and "nudge" him as he was coming into the beach, in about 2-3 feet of water as I recall. Scared the crap out of him and his parents who watched the whole thing from maybe 100 yards away.

 There is a rock out near the mouth of Helm Bay (same place) that usually has seals all around it. It is suspected that the pod was out there "sniffing around", and maybe heard him swimming, and then came deeper into the bay, around the end of the small island and checked to see if/what he was. It obviously held back from snacking on him, because it knew the difference.

 Made the national news, and got lots of interest from whale researchers, as there haven't been too many documented human/orca contacts. Here is a link to an article, which has the facts much better than my memory!

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2002445380_orca19m.html
Pete.

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JeanG

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Re: Orcas chase surfers out of the water
« Reply #13 on: March 01, 2013, 02:53:29 PM »
Male Orcas "typically" weigh over 12,000lb. They make White sharks look puny - the largest whites are around 5,000lb.

Orcas are extemely unlikely to "mistake you for a seal" as Great Whites do - Orcas are highly intelligent mammals, whereas Whites are just big fat fish. A surfer was actually attacked by an Orca in California a while back - he needed stitches but was otherwise fine. It doesn't take much imagination to realize that the Orca wasn't trying to kill him... A 12,000lb apex predator can kill a person with very little effort.

I know that the above is obvious, but it speaks volumes about how shockingly safe these gigantic dolphins really are.

People are kayaking near Orcas on a very regular basis in the Pac NW, never an issue that I've heard of.

SUP Viking

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Re: Orcas chase surfers out of the water
« Reply #14 on: March 01, 2013, 02:57:30 PM »
Id rather have Orca's around than White Sharks. And if Orca's are around chances are White Sharks are not.

!!KILLER WHALE VS GREAT WHITE SHARK!!
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