Dubious science from those who should know better

[jssailem]

@Scott T-Bird My apologies to Sue.
I did change my boats bottom paint color to a dark blue this year rather than the red she came with.
You can never be too careful.

 

[Justin_NSA]

Paint this on the bottom

 

[Pirate Dave]

Two fishermen found themselves in the water after a whale capsized their 20-foot motorboat off the coast of New Jersey. Neither man was injured and both were quickly rescued by a nearby boater who had heard the Mayday call.



From Soundings. The picture shows a black bottom.

Freaking color blind whales !!!!!! A danger to all !!!!!

Freakin

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Paint this on the bottom

This is why I love this forum!

 

[Skipper]

What was 2nd up?
Surely there's something I've said that should be on here.

 

[jssailem]

Yes that will do it. It will be my safe place.

 

[Will Gilmore]

Two fishermen found themselves in the water after a whale capsized their 20-foot motorboat off the coast of New Jersey.

I thought this was the start of a joke.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[DayDreamer41]

Wonder what color Jennifer Appel's bottom was to have so many sharks attack it...... that would be boat bottom,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[jssailem]

Wonder what color Jennifer Appel's bottom was to have so many sharks attack it....

From the Wiki Bio.
Stripping and S&M
After moving to Hawaii, she was on food stamps and needed to find a way to bring in cash. She decided to become a sex worker. On her FetLife, she also offers her services as a dominatrix.​

Just guessing here. Black and Blue? possibly

 

[Davidasailor26]

Whale was the "Stand on vessel". The sailboat was on a Port Tack.
Jim...

But did the whale take action to avoid the collision when it saw the sailboat wouldn't?

 

[JamesG161]

the whale take action to avoid the collision

Yes!
But in the upwards directions.
Jim...

PS: USCG could not find the whale for his testimony.

 

[Will Gilmore]

So, in general, a vessel under sail power has right of way vs a vessel under motorized power. Where does a vessel under 'hand power' stand? You know, paddle, oars, peddle boat, flukes, fins and tail?
That whale should fall into the same class as a row boat. As a driver, he failed to display a drive flag. (Just throwing that out there).

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[jssailem]

Where does a vessel under 'hand power' stand?

Often still, while the crew down their beer.
Or... moving rapidly as they try to get the boat out from in front of the tanker headed their way.
Or... in pieces with crew floating beside wondering what was that? It sliced us in two.

 

[Ward H]

Well here is visual proof whales attack blue sail boats with red bottom paint.

Jul 20, 2010 · The pair were enjoying calm seas off the South African coast when the animal flipped into the air and smashed into their mast.
View attachment 155957​

He did not know he was supposed to be color blind.

Two whales are swimming along when they see a sailboat.
"Awe, come on Tommy, you can jump that boat. I do it all the time. Just get a good head start to get up a lot of speed and it's easy"

 

[jssailem]

So in the dubious science category....
2 guys were sitting around drinking beer playing with a 9volt battery...

 

[JamesG161]

We all know it is the AMPS not the voltage.

The Key to the this video was his Wife.

"Get the heck off my Dinning Room table or you WILL die!"

Jim...

PS: The jumper would have melted, if the AMPS were high.

 

[capta]

Anecdotal evidence from someone with an uncounted number of sea miles.
On my 3rd trip from Frisco to Honolulu on a 50' Rhodes with a red bottom, I apparently hit a sleeping whale. A big bump brought us to a dead stop, then we rolled over a bit and continued on our way with no damage. Never saw the creature. In all the years and miles since, I've never hit or been hit by a whale, though encountering one surfing a big wave in the Lāhainā channel, it seemed a certainty he'd join me in the cockpit. He didn't, "Good boy." phew.
Never again had a red bottom on one of my boats. Black, blue, green or multicolor (new paint wearing back to old), but not red.
I sincerely doubt that whales use sight, with all their other attributes, to locate objects around them, so the color of a boat's bottom is rather a moot point, IMO. But scientists routinely go out of their way to make the facts fit their theories, so I have no doubt that there are at least several contradictory papers out there on the internet on this subject. Pick the bottom paint color you like and live dangerously!

 

[Kings Gambit]

But scientists routinely go out of their way to make the facts fit their theories...

Not precisely. A theory originates to explain observable facts. As new facts become known which somehow, or in some way, contradict the theory, the theory becomes modified to accommodate the new facts, etc. Those modifications are counted as ad hoc postulates. If enough of those accumulate, scientists start seeking a new theory to cover the present set of facts without the use of those postulates. That is the process that eventually lead to Einstein's Relativity replacing Newton's celestial mechanics, and to Copernicus' heliocentric model of the solar system replacing Ptolemaic's geocentric model, to cite the most celebrated examples.

As for whale color discrimination ability, all that seems a little far out. Sea mammals have higher rod density and lower cone density compared to terrestrial mammals, meaning less color discrimination ability to start with. Toothed whales, at least, use sonar to "see" stuff underwater. In any event, I think those creatures are intelligent enough to know a boat from some kind of predator or another member of their group trying to pick a fight by "waving a red flag."

The only comments I've had regarding my bottom pair, Trinidad Black, is from my diver who wishes it brighter for cleaning.

 

[JimInPB]

...As for whale color discrimination ability, all that seems a little far out. Sea mammals have higher rod density and lower cone density compared to terrestrial mammals, meaning less color discrimination ability to start with. Toothed whales, at least, use sonar to "see" stuff underwater. In any event, I think those creatures are intelligent enough to know a boat from some kind of predator or another member of their group trying to pick a fight by "waving a red flag."

You cite good information & present logical conclusions here & also in the other parts of your post that I did not quote. It would all seem to fall into place for me if it wasn't for one thing. When I troll 3 different colors of the same fishing lure, Often, only one color will get hit on a particular day, even when I move that lure to a different position in the spread. This has happened too many times to be statistically insignificant. While this is not as earth shaking as the "UV Catastrophe", it does leave me scratching my head a bit.

 

[Kings Gambit]

So, three choices?

This has happened too many times to be statistically insignificant

In 10 trials, your "favored" colored of three would have to be hit at least 6 times for there to be significance, assuming all colors have an otherwise equal chance of being hit. With 5 trials, you'd need to see at least 4 hits on the favored color; with 3 trials you'd need 3 hits, etc.