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Journalism of Courage
Two people were rescued on May 12 after a group of orcas, also known as killer whales, sank their 15-metre-long sailing yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar, 22.5 kilometres off the coast of Morocco. The incident took place after the animals approached the yacht and began to slam the hull, thereby damaging the rudder and causing a leak, according to the crew members.
This was not an isolated event. In November 2023, orcas slammed the rudder of a yacht for nearly 45 minutes, forcing the crew members to abandon the boat, which ultimately sank near the Tanger Med port, located 45 km northeast of Tangier, Morocco.
Data by the research group GT Atlantic Orca (GTOA) show that since 2020 (when the rise in targeting of boats was first observed), there have been more than 700 interactions between orcas and boats — in some cases, boats sustained critical damages — near the Strait of Gibraltar. Owing to the high frequency of the interactions, they become a multinational issue which involves scientists and officials from Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, according to a report by The New York Times.
“Online, anxious sailors have gathered to share advice on navigating “orca alley,” and biologists are tracking the orcas’ movements and testing methods that could deter them,” the report said.
Despite the growing research, scientists, who have said that this behaviour by orcas is unusual, are yet to ascertain why exactly the animals have been targeting the boats. They, however, have come up with possibilities: either the orcas are playing around or they are reacting to negative experiences with the boats. Here is a look at them.
The orcas are playing around
A part of the dolphin family, orcas or killer whales — they can measure up to 8 metres in length and weigh up to 6 tonnes as adults — are highly intelligent and curious mammals, who are not known to be aggressive against humans in the wild.
Therefore, some scientists believe that targeting boats could be just a form of play or a fad — a behaviour initiated by one or two individuals and temporarily picked up by others before it is abandoned — for the orcas. Research has shown that once juvenile orcas learn a new behaviour, they tend to keep repeating it, much like toddlers. Some young orcas possibly learnt to push the boats and are now repeating the behaviour ad nauseam.
Speaking to the BBC, orca specialist Renaud de Stephanis said orcas are just pushing the rudders until they break. “It is a game. Imagine a kid of 6, 7 years, with a weight of three tonnes. That’s it, nothing less, nothing more…If they wanted to wreck the boat, they would break it in 10 minutes’ time.”
The orcas are attacking
According to this theory, a traumatic event must have happened with one or two orcas, triggering a change in their behaviour, which is being imitated by the rest of the population near the Strait of Gibraltar.
There have been some instances of orcas getting tangled in fishing lines, usually used by the region’s fishermen to snap up some fish. Some scientists suspect that a female orca, whom they call White Gladis, went through a similar traumatising experience, which altered her behaviour.
Speaking to LiveScience, Alfredo López Fernandez, a researcher with GTOA, said, “That traumatised orca is the one that started this behaviour of physical contact with the boat.”
Regardless of the reason behind orcas targeting the boats, researchers fear that if such incidents continue to take place it would not only endanger the lives of mariners but also become a conservation issue for orcas.
