According to a study published in June 2022 in the journal Marine Mammal Science, there have been reports of aggressive encounters with killer whales off the Iberian coast, mainly from Portugal and Spain, have become more common since May 2020.
The attacks appear to be primarily aimed at sailboats and follow a consistent pattern: killer whales approach the stern to hit the rudder.
Once they manage to stop the boat, the orcas lose interest and stop attacking. This pattern suggests a specific behavior of killer whales in these interactions with vessels in the region.
Whales attack boats in Europe
There was a recent incident in which three killer whales (Orcinus orca), also known as killer whales, attacked and sank a third boat off the Iberian coast of Europe.
The incident happened on the night of May 4 in the Strait of Gibraltar off the coast of Spain when orcas punctured the yacht’s rudder.
Experts are now investigating possible mimicking behavior by orcas, as other similar sightings have been reported in the region.
It is believed that this behavior is copied from the local orca population. According to Captain Werner Schaufelberger’s report to the German magazine Yacht, two smaller and one larger orcas were sighted during the orca incident.
According to the statement, the smaller orcas swayed on the rudder at the stern of the boat while the larger orca repeatedly reversed and rammed it into the boat with full force. Ship on the side. The captain’s report provides additional details on the dynamics of the orcas attacking the boat.
According to Schaufelberger, he observed the smaller killer whales mimicking the behavior of the larger killer whales. After the incident, the crew was rescued by the Spanish Coast Guard, who towed the boat to Barbate.
However, the boat sank at the port entrance. The situation highlights the severity of the orcas’ attack and its impact on the ship.
Most encounters between orcas and boats on the Iberian coast have been harmless, López Fernández said in an email message to Live Science.
Out of more than 500 interaction events recorded since 2020, only three ships have sunk. It is estimated that orcas only come into contact with one in every hundred vessels in the area.
According to López Fernández, the increase in aggression against boats is a recent phenomenon. The researchers believe that a traumatic event in one orca may have triggered a change in behavior that was then mimicked by the rest of the population.
This “mimicking” could in turn explain the increasing frequency of orca attacks on boats in different parts of the region.