It is actually extremely rare that a whale intentionally sinks a sailboat. But an accidental collision with a whale can leave a sailboat damaged and cause the loss of its rudder. It does seem though, that there is an increase in incidences of sailboats hitting whales. Part of that reason could be due to conservation measures and the increased numbers of whales but also, the increased numbers of sailboats passing through whale territory.
So why don’t whales just get out of the way, whether a ship or sailboat. There is speculation that whales, being the biggest thing in the ocean, they grow up never having to change course for anything. They just don’t know to move. Our collision with the young humpback whale, at the beginning of this video, is a very good example of that. That whale could have easily avoided us, but it chose not to. That might have been a very good learning experience for the young whale, that not all large, rounded things in the ocean are as soft and friendly as mother. That learning experience, just might save its life one day.
One would think that a whale should hear the approach of a sailboat. Apparently, it is a very noisy ocean down there and becoming more noisy with the increase of ships, fishing boats and all sorts of surface craft, but also, military submarines. Maybe, in some extremely noisy areas close to civilization, the whale might not hear the vessel coming. However it could be well worth while, for a sailboat in whale territory, to create noise by playing the stereo, which can be heard through the hull, turn on the depth sounder, especially one of the new Raymarine depth sounders that uses a sweep of frequencies, not just the standard 50 or 200kz, or even turn on the engine. A diesel engine is very noisy, underwater.
When in whale territory, it would be good to slow down. In some whale feeding areas, ships are restricted to a speed of no more than 10 knots. Many sailboats would be fortunate to go that fast but the slower the better to give whales, and the sailboat, more opportunity to avoid each other.
Know before you sail, if your boat will be in a whale traffic area, subscribe to whale alerts for your particular area. Unfortunately these are concentrated in the USA, but a google for something like “Whale Tracking In South Africa” should give you some information to be aware of.
Try to travel during the day, so you can see whales on the surface better. Some whale species spend a lot of time at night, resting on the surface.
Finally, as if all that wasn’t bad enough, in their migrations, and search for food, many whales spend much of their lives in precisely those waters that are the most dangerous for them, often frequenting both commercial shipping lanes and recreational hot spots, taking the same route that migrating cruisers follow.
So keep a good lookout. Make a lot of noise, and try not to hit any whales, OK?
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