Over the past couple of years, there have been reports of orcas attacking ships at sea. For some, these incidences have turned into a meme, with these whales seemingly targeting yachts and luxury ships belonging to the wealthy.
As reported by the New York Times, Florian Rutsch, who oversees high-end voyages and retreats via his catamaran, has been mindful of potential interactions with orcas, and during one of his recent voyages, he tried a new tactic that seemed to piss the whales off big-time: blaring brutal death metal at them.
Dude pulled a Dethklok on the orcas (referring to the Metalocalypse episode “Dethwater,” where the band plays death metal underwater).
As the New York Times notes, through underwater speakers, the crew played a metal-curated playlist in an effort to deter orcas from the ship.
However, rather than swim away, the whales went for the ship’s rudder and disabled its steering. Following this, the crew was forced to call for help.
The appropriately titled “Metal for Orcas” playlist includes the following tracks:
“Fatal Invocation” – The Fallen Prophets
“The Blood of Power” – Dying Fetus
“Exceptionally Sadistic” – Monument Of Misanthropy
“Infinite Terror” – Aborted
“X2y” – Benighted
“Stretched and Devoured” – Analepsy, Angel Ochoa
“Dead but Still Alive” – The Fallen Prophets, Kris Xenopoulous
“Martyr” – Benighted
“Paroxysm” – Abominable Putridity
“No Half Measures” – Ingested
The idea of playing metal is one of several ideas that have been brought up by sailors in regard to how to keep orcas away from ships. However, per this instance, it doesn’t seem like that great of a move. This playlist predominately features bands from the death metal/brutal slam scenes, and you can listen to the playlist for yourself below.
When it comes to introducing audiences to heavy metal for the first time – and this apparently this goes for whales now too – you may want to start with something more melodic and welcoming, rather than all-out brutal. In fact, earlier this year, we wrote about the 10 best albums to introduce your non-metal-listening friends to.