La industria turística a convertido la actividad de los avistamientos de cetáceos en el Sea World open waters del Estrecho.
Orientacion,ayuda y consejos practicos de bricolaje nautico,dirigido fundamentalmente a aquellos navegantes escasos de recursos economicos.
sábado, 27 de agosto de 2022
viernes, 19 de agosto de 2022
Suspension/Restricción de avistamientos de cetáceos.
jueves, 4 de agosto de 2022
Ataque de orcas en el Estrecho de Gibraltar. Actualizacion 2022
Durante este año se han sucedido los ataques de orcas a veleros y digo ataques por que el eufemismo utilizado por los biólogos de los grupos de estudios los denominan "interacciones", una interaccion es definida por el diccionario es Acción, relación o influencia reciproca entre dos o mas personas o cosas.
Esta claro que esta definición no se puede aplicar a la situación que estudiamos por que no es reciproca. El uso de este termino por la comunidad científica tiene como objetivo quitar importancia a los ataques y su origen viene de la terminología usada por los investigadores en los contactos con las orcas durante su estudio y de las empresas turísticas de avistamientos, que en los dos casos se interacciona por que se sale a buscarlas.
Ataques de orcas a Julio de 20222
During this
year there have been attacks by killer whales on sailboats and I say attacks
because the euphemism used by biologists from study groups calls them
"interactions", an interaction is defined by the dictionary as
Action, relationship or reciprocal influence between two or more people or
things.
It is clear
that this definition cannot be applied to the situation we are studying because
it is not reciprocal. The use of this term by the scientific community aims to
play down the importance of the attacks and its origin comes from the
terminology used by researchers in contact with orcas during their study and by
tourist sighting companies, which in both cases they interact because they go
out looking for them.
This year
the attacks began in April and the orcas began their migration north earlier
than in other years, but on their way there were reports of attacks on the
coast of Huelva, where at least one sailboat had to be helped, and on the Portuguese
coast.
The Orcas
compete with man for the capture of the bluefin tuna, and they establish
themselves in the passage areas of the tuna in their migration to the
Mediterranean for spawning, once the tuna spawning season ends, they migrate
north through the Portuguese south and west coast and Galicia.
https://youtu.be/gXgOJazIXZY
Since ancient times, man has used a fishing gear called Almadraba, which consists of a labyrinth of nets located by the places where the tuna pass, coinciding with the hunting places of the killer whales.
In the
letters you can see where the Almadrabas are located,
(https://youtu.be/7iv9xv4E-yg) in Portugal in the vicinity of Cape Santa María,
in Huelva, Isla Cristina, formerly there were others in the vicinity of Punta
Umbria, today this area is not used to set the trap due to the changes in
routes of passage of the tuna. In Cádiz, Conil, Barbate, Zahara de los
atunes and Tarifa.
The attacks
occur in the vicinity of human fishing activity on the Atlantic coast, which
would explain the theory that it is a hunting method for adults to teach their
young, but during this year there have been attacks on the coast of Sines,
where the passengers of a tourist boat had to abandon the boat due to the
damage caused and be assisted by a fishing boat and the Portuguese navy. And
during the past year and the current year there have been attacks on the
Galician coast, where there are no tuna fishing facilities either.
In summary this year, roughly, the attacks are more and have spread in areas, from which we can deduce that there are more specimens involved, according to biologists' estimates, there are 14.
The scientific community involved, Orca Atlántica and CEMMA have not moved an inch from their initial arguments, that this is a game and that the proposed protocol must be applied, which basically boils down to remaining at the mercy of the attacks and the conditions of sea and wind and notify the authorities requesting help if necessary.
It can be seen that the incidents are growing in number and seriousness without measures being taken to protect the goods and lives of the sailors.
The investigations presented by the scientific community* do not advance in the knowledge of the behavior of these animals and do not propose any measure aimed at avoiding attacks, rejecting any proposal that does not come from their associations, in a clear gesture of professional zeal, wanting to demonstrate that they are the custodians of the grail that contains the preservation of the species, accompanied by a clearly ideological charge, identifying sailing with economic power, which capriciously invades the habitat of a being that it owns. And so in social networks they disqualify and ridicule any comment or opinion, calling them "bar counter opinion", ignoring that this problem requires the participation of all the sectors involved.
It must be
said here that the study included in the BOE in which the preservation measures
for the Orca del Estrecho are determined literally says:
"The tourist industry for whale watching, both commercial and private, which has developed in the area, focused on killer whales, is also a cause for concern in this regard. The frequent presence of boats, mainly in the summer period, during the hunting season of bluefin tuna in its trophic migration, could result in a higher energy cost for these animals. In addition, this activity could hinder the work of fishermen in the Strait and thus accentuate their negative perception of killer whales."
https://www.boe.es/eli/es/o/2017/05/04/apm427
Some voices
that have emerged as defenders of the orca's habitat, justifying the damage
caused to the boats, have interests in these tourist businesses. Silencing that
their excursions invade that same habitat, with the difference that it is for
profit and that the activity must be recognized and subject to compliance with
the legislation.
*'Orcas from the Strait of Gibraltar, an endangered subpopulation showing disruptive behaviour'
Ezequiel
Andreu Cazalla
José Carlos
García Gómez, Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Seville
The Atlantic sailors' associations, aware of the problem that this animal behavior entails, disabling the boats, putting the lives of the crew members at risk and the economic cost that it entails, immobilizing the boats in foreign ports at the expense of costly repairs, throw themselves into the arms of the scientific community, providing data and positions of the attacks with the idea of collaborating in the prompt solution of the problem.
Government authorities tiptoe over the problem, having purely testimonial initiatives, whose execution, in the best of cases, falls on the same biologists who form the Orca lobby in the Iberian Peninsula. And so, a project for the monitoring of the most active specimens has been put out to tender, a project in deadlock because it does not have the support of this group. And so the years go by adding risks and damages to the perplexity of the international nautical community.
The
navigators, faced with the concern of being left without a government after the
attack, have been trying different deterrent methods that have been transmitted
through social networks, which have been discarded as they have been tested.
Pouring diesel: Several testimonials have been published from sailors who have put it into practice and it has not worked, it slows them down but does not deter them.
Going back:
I have only collected one testimony in which the killer whales gave up the
attack by going back, there is no experience to say that it is effective. Not
to mention that the attacking group not only attacks the rudder, they flank the
ship hitting the bands.
Pinger:
They are
ultrasound devices used by fishermen to scare away dolphins and prevent accidental
catches. There is no experience of its effectiveness on killer whales, however
there is a second-hand market for boaters who have acquired them to pass
through conflictive areas and later put them on sale for around €100. Nor have
I collected any testimony on the effectiveness of these devices.
A solution
that has been considered is to monitor the conflicting specimens and track them
through a web page with the intention of avoiding them, a budget has been
released for this purpose, a measure that, as already mentioned, does not have
the support of the scientific community.
Despite the
opposition of some biologists, this system is used very frequently by the
scientific community for the monitoring of pelagic species, there are companies
that offer their services for satellite marking and monitoring.
https://www.ocearch.org/
about/
Sonic effects: Despite the criteria of the Spanish biologists embodied in the action protocols in which silence and the disconnection of all electronics and motors are advised, the North American agency NOAA promoted a study and published a protocol to keep the killer whales from accidental oil spills based fundamentally on this principle:
Killer whales are acoustic animals. They use sound to communicate with each other and find food through echolocation, a type of biosonar. Because sound is so important, the use of loud or annoying sounds is one way we can try to keep whales away from an oil contaminated area.
https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/about/media/how-do-you-keep-killer-whales-away-oil-spill.html
The
protocol cites as useful the noise caused by the helicopter at low altitude,
the use of small explosive charges and the use of an Oikomi device or pipe
(beating pipe) suspended from a boat.
Anything
but patiently waiting for your boat to sink, the measures taken must have the
consent of all those involved in the problem, until now the maritime
authorities have strictly followed the indications of the naturalists and it is
time to stop towing boats attacked at €300 an hour to impose measures aimed at
preserving human life and property in balance with the preservation of the
species.