WHEREAS an Orca whale held in captivity tends to exhibit, after a time, a dorsal fin that is flopped over instead of stoutly erect as they are in the wild.

THEREFORE I propose a dorsal fin brace, borne by a circumferential harness, that returns the dorsal to its natural upright position.
-- bristolz, Oct 06 2004

Illustration http://bz.pair.com/fun/OrcaStraight.html
[bristolz, Oct 06 2004]

Tommy Cooper http://www.michaeld.../CoverArt/10870.jpg
Fez wearer, genius, corpse. [calum, Oct 06 2004]

Why do Orca fins collapse? http://oceanlink.is...i.html#anchor662263
Answered by Todd Nivens of the Vancouver Aquarium. [bristolz, Oct 07 2004]

Another solution http://www.halfbake.../Nitrogen_20breasts
Implant or attach lighter-than water devices to help keep dorsal fins straight even in low-pressure water. [Worldgineer, Oct 07 2004]

How to begin?

As a relative newbie (Oct 2003) I am delighted to see that the HB is back and some new/old ideas are being churned. Bristolz' illustrations are so charming, would that all ideas could be so displayed!

Bris'' (is that a new mark for shortening and posessive?) idea is dear to my heart, as I grew up visiting (and still have) relatives on Orcas Island, WA, and saw any number of Orcas in the wild - my mom tells of having rowed out in a small rowboat to gambol among them.

Sad to see the encaptured and detumescent versions, though I'm glad others get to see them at all. Bris' device should help to see them at their best!

Will there be other pun-based entries? I did take a class in Orchestration, not <oar castration> or <whore cussed ration> <ORK a Station> (remember Mork & Mindy, anyone?)

I am looking forward to links returning in due course.

csea
-- csea, Oct 06 2004


I've been to Orcas island too - however I can't remember the degree of erectness of the whales' fins I saw there.
-- hippo, Oct 06 2004


Nicely Tommy Cooper.
-- calum, Oct 06 2004


Whale I don't actually think this idea's a flop, you are marketing to a fairly fin slice of the market.
-- vigilante, Oct 06 2004


When I was little, my mother used to row us out to the Orcas, and we’d have a picnic on one. We’d barbecue on its back, and make a day of it. Then, when I was in high school, my friends and I would motor out and pitch a tent, using that fin as the center pole. We had a pillow fight one night, and it got bent a little. That’s all it was, really, I swear. We didn’t do it on purpose.
-- pluterday, Oct 06 2004


heh, beat me to it.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 06 2004


Any brace that could force the fin straight would chafe the orca, causing pain while fixing something harmless. [-]
-- brodie, Oct 06 2004


Have you tried Viirony?
-- bristolz, Oct 06 2004


Note that the curved dorsal fin is only a characteristic of the female orcas.
-- danrue, Oct 07 2004


Not true, danrue.
-- bristolz, Oct 19 2005


Good post. Perhaps the aquarium people could take turns rubbing the fin until the cartilage remains nice and firm. There, I said what you were thinking.
-- Gusbus, Oct 19 2005



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