GOING FOR THE KILL: Researchers puzzled by group of ‘killer’ whales attacking boats near Spain
Many experts are suggesting the animals were stressed and have reason to be mad at us. The area the attacks have occurred in features heavy boat traffic and has been overfished, dwindling the orcas' food supply.
JOSEPH WILSON: A pod of killer whales repeatedly rammed a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar this week, damaging it enough to require Spanish rescuers to come to the aid of its four crew members. It was the latest episode in a perplexing trend in the behavior of orcas populating the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula that has left researchers searching for a cause…
This was the 24th such incident registered by the service this year. The service didn’t provide data from last year. But the Atlantic Orca Working Group, a team of Spanish and Portuguese marine life researchers who study killer whales near the Iberia Peninsula, says that these incidents were first reported three years ago. In 2020, the group registered 52 such events, some of which resulted in damaged rudders. That increased to 197 in 2021 and to 207 in 2022.
The killer whales seem to be targeting boats in a wide arc covering the western coast of the Iberia Peninsula, from the waters near the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain’s northwestern Galicia. According to the group, these killer whales are a small group of about 35 whales that spend most of the year near the Iberian coast in pursuit of red tuna. The so-called Iberian orcas average from five to 6½ meters (16-21 feet) in length, compared to the orcas of Antarctica which can reach nine meters (29½ feet). SOURCE…
DAVID MATTHEWS: Sailor Victoria Morris described an incident to the Guardian that felt “totally orchestrated” after a group of nine whales surrounded a boat and rammed it for an hour. “The noise was really scary. They were ramming the keel, there was this horrible echo, I thought they could capsize the boat,” Morris said. “And this deafening noise as they communicated, whistling to each other. It was so loud that we had to shout.” The boat needed to be towed away because the damage was so extensive. The crew later reported the rudder was rendered unusable and there were bite marks on the keel, the ship’s underside…
Researchers said it was unusual for orcas to become so aggressive, though the highly intelligent animals are known to follow boats, and even nibble at rudders to play. “I’ve seen these orcas grow from babies, I know their life stories, I’ve never seen or heard of attacks,” University of Seville marine biologist Rocio Espada told the Observer. Espada added that it was possible the animals were stressed—the area the attacks have occurred in features heavy boat traffic and has been overfished, dwindling the orcas’ food supply. SOURCE…
CBC NEWS: Many experts are suggesting the killer whales could be playing. Others have wondered whether a matriarch named White Gladis could be teaching her pod the behaviour, following a traumatic incident with a ship. The internet, meanwhile, can’t stop joking about the orcas taking revenge on humanity.
If this is a case of psychological projection, it might be because orcas have reason to be mad at us. Raincoast Conservation Foundation senior scientist Peter Ross tells us about the health of the orca population including the one we understand best, the Southern Resident killer whales near our west coast, and discusses why humans see so much of themselves in these neighbours. SOURCE…
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