WHALER
HOW LIKELY – REALLY – ARE YOU TO COLLIDE WITH A WHALE? WE REPORT ON A NEW APPROACH TO REDUCE THE CHANCE OF WHALE STRIKES, PLUS WHAT SAILORS CAN DO
Author: David Smith
HOW LIKELY – REALLY – ARE YOU TO COLLIDE WITH A WHALE? WE REPORT ON A NEW APPROACH TO REDUCE THE CHANCE OF WHALE STRIKES, PLUS WHAT SAILORS CAN DO
“When a 45-tonnes Sperm Whale is on starboard tack, it has right of way. It also has right of way when it’s on port tack!” the legendary French ocean sailor Olivier de Kersauson once said. Few would argue with him, and no yacht is a match for a whale. Thanks to the vulnerability of rudders, keels, rudder posts or even foils, the spectre of crashing into a large, solid sea creature in deep water has haunted seafarers long before Moby Dick was written in 1851. For years, reported incidents of crui...