Humans and orcas have a lot in common. According to research, killer whales experience a variety of emotions, participate in play, and display affection. Orcas, like people, can become addicted to fads. They learn behaviors from one another, particularly from younger orcas. That taught behavior can spread within a pod and even between pods; in 1987, three independent pods of orcas held dead fish on their heads for a few weeks.
The latest craze among the endangered subpopulation of Iberian orcas, which live in the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain’s southern coast and Morocco’s northern coast, is to attack boat rudders. The Champagne, a Swiss sailing yacht that sank while being hauled to port on May 4 after three orcas broke her rudder, was the most recent victim of similar behavior. Prior to this occurrence, orcas sank yachts in July and November of 2022. (In all three occurrences, all passengers were safely rescued.)
Nine Killer Whales have been identified as having attacked boats
Since the first incidence in May 2020, the recurrent pattern has been the subject of extensive inquiry. According to one study published in the journal Marine Mammal Science, at least 49 events involving orcas and boats occurred in 2020 alone. Since 2020, researchers have observed 505 contacts between orcas and boats, ranging from orcas merely swimming toward the boats to orcas harming them. “It is a rare behavior that has only been detected in this part of the world,” Alfredo Lopez, an orca researcher with the Atlantic Orca Working Group, told Scientific American.
The majority of the trouble in the area can be attributed to two pods of orcas. The first is a trio of juveniles, while the second is a mixed-age group led by a female known as “White Gladis.” Two of White Gladis’ offspring and two of her sisters are also members. Researchers believe White Gladis had a negative experience with a boat at some time in her life, such as an entanglement with a net or a direct strike from a propeller, which caused her to be aggressive towards boats. There’s a potential she’s taught other orcas this behavior. Nine whales have been identified as having attacked boats.
Greg Blackburn, an experienced sailor from Leeds, U.K., witnessed what he thought was teaching behavior when an orca with two calves started ramming his boat on May 2 near Tangier, Morocco. “You can see … the matriarch coming up and attacking the rudder with [the] calf [beside] her, then she drops back and then the little calf gets in to have a go,” he told 9News. “It was definitely some form of education, teaching going on.”
When Blackburn realized the orcas were around, he altered the sails on his boat to “be as boring as possible.” When orcas start interfering with a yacht, the Cruising Association and the Atlantic Orca Working Group propose shutting it down, unfurling the sails, and disconnecting the autopilot. The orcas eventually swam away, but not before causing significant damage to Blackburn’s vessel. “Obviously that was hard enough with everything that was happening,” he said. “[But] there was nothing we could really do.”
