A pod of kἰller whales stranded a yacht near Gibraltar in the most recent spectacular encounter between orcas and vessels, but as per one sailor, the orcas didn’t seem vi0lent.
Iain Hamilton reported on Monday’s (5 June) episode of BBC Radio 4’s “Today” show that he and his crew were 20 miles out into the Strait of Gibraltar when a pod of curious whales began rubbing up against the stern and “trying to bite the rudder.”
As he continued, he stated-
“Then one of them managed to take off the rudder,” adding that soon afterward, both rudders had been taken off. When asked about the orcas, he said, “We had no mechanism for steering the boat,” adding that they “pushed us around like a rag doll.”
There was one enormous whale and four smaller ones, and Hamilton observed that they seemed “almost playful” rather than aggressive. Hamilton observed that the people on board appeared to be experimenting with the rudders, putting the boat in a precarious position. Over the past month, there have been more than 20 incidences like this in that area alone.
Maritime Executive reports that sightings of orcas near sailboats off the Iberian coast of Europe began in 2020 and have only increased since then.
Three boats have been sunk by kἰller whales in the area since 2010, with the rudders being the most common target, as reported by Live Science, and “experts now believe the behavior is being copied by the rest of the population.”
Scientists believe the encounters began when an orca dubbed “White Gladis” by researchers had a “critical moment of agony” with a boat, as explained by marine biologist Alfredo López Fernandez of Portugal’s University of Aveiro.
The biologist explained that the orca’s physical contact with the boat was initiated by the traumatized animal.
Dr. Renaud de Stephanis a marine researcher previously told-
“They just play, play, play. They simply find it enjoyable and that’s that.”
“I’ve seen them hunting,” the biologist elaborated.
They are silent and invisible when they are hunting. They stalk their victim in silence. I’ve seen them actively hunting sperm whales; that’s aggression; these ones, though, they’re just playing.
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Maritime Executive said an orca has never killed a human in the wild. Although the attacks on boats are concerning for both humans and whales the likelihood of actually coming into contact with one is limited.
According to Live Science, it’s possible that the Iberian orcas’ new fixation with ambushing boats is only a “fad” — a behavior they adopt for a brief period of time and then suddenly quit.
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