This news should bring cold sweats to boat owners: sinking killer whales seem to have found a new playground. While attacks have so far only taken place off the Portuguese and Spanish coasts, a new incident is now unfolding near the Shetland Islands, a British subarctic archipelago west of Norway.
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An attack in the north, a worrying first
On Monday June 19th, Dr. Wim Rutten, a 72-year-old retired Dutch physicist and experienced sailor, solo from Lerwick to Bergen in Norway. He was looking for mackerel when suddenly a killer whale appeared and crashed into the stern of the seven-ton boat.
“I said: shit! I had heard about the Portuguese accidents,” the sailor told the Guardian. The animal struck again and again, producing gentle jolts through the aluminum hull. What scared me the most was the animal’s very noisy breathing. The killer whale stayed behind the boat and searched for the keel. Then he disappeared… but came back two or three times at high speed… and turned a little. Maybe he just wanted to play. Or look me in the eye. Or get rid of the fishing line.”
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Why do orcas attack boats?
So this attack happened almost 3,000 miles from Gibraltar, where the other incidents also happened. dr Conor Ryan, Scientific Advisor to the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, who has studied schools of orcas off the coast of Scotland, said: “I would hate to say that this cannot be learned from southern populations. It is possible that this ‘mode’ will be carried over into the different pods/communities. There could be highly mobile pods that could transmit this behavior over long distances.”
Still, the scientist believes that “human activities, even indirectly, are at the root of this behavior.” Increases in maritime traffic, declining food sources, warming oceans and noise pollution could all play a role. Maybe the universe knows. We don’t.”
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Orca attacks on boats began just over a year ago in southern Portugal and Spain. Many theories have been put forward by scientists. The latest findings, published in the journal Marine Mammal Science, suggest these attacks would involve nine killer whales, divided into two groups: three or even four juveniles; and a mixed-age group led by an adult female named White Gladis.
She – the only adult woman involved in the attacks – would hold the key to the secret. According to the authors of the article, White Gladis would seek revenge after colliding with a ship. She would have developed a technique to sink the boats and then taught it to the youngest.
On the same topic:
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