Why are killer whales attacking boats?

BBC Discover Wildlife ^ | 23/10/23 | Mark Carwadine

[Eleutheria5]

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If you were to believe the press and social media, we’re in the midst of a ‘killer whale uprising’. But claims about their murderous intent are blatantly untrue. The evidence doesn’t stand up. Killer whales do attack, and sometimes kill, trainers in captivity (not surprisingly) but, unlike polar bears, great white sharks and many other top predators, they have never killed a person in the wild.

How many attacks have taken place? So what’s happening? Since May 2020, there have been more than 500 reported attacks on sailing boats, as well as some fishing boats, RIBs and motorboats. It began in the Strait of Gibraltar, but the number and range of incidents has rapidly increased in the years since.

The ‘attack zone’ now extends up the Atlantic coasts of Portugal, Spain and France; and, in June, a yacht was ambushed off the coast of Shetland (the first incident recorded in northern waters). No-one has been harmed. The culprits are just a handful of whales, although others may be learning the behaviour.

Are the attacks triggered by a traumatic incident such as a collision with a boat or entanglement in fishing gear, as many claim? Or is it really an act of revenge for centuries of maltreatment and neglect? ...

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A key piece of evidence is that they usually attack the boat rudders. Research with dummy rudders suggests that they are pushing them, rather than biting. Once a rudder breaks, the whales usually swim away. That doesn’t sound like aggression to me. If they really wanted to, they could sink a small yacht in minutes. (Breaking a rudder could open a hole in the hull, of course, which might explain why three of the 500-plus boats sank.)

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TOPICS: Humor; Pets/Animals; Science; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: boatattacks; europe; killerwhale; killerwhales; ocean; orca; orcas; whales; wildlife

[Pelham]

Another interesting bit of history, at least I’ve seen it claimed to be true, is that Moby Dick is loosely based on an actual whale that terrorized whaling fleets across the Pacific. I think it was mottled white in a color, and totally pissed off at whalers. Its reign of terror went on for several decades and it never lost a fight.

[GOPJ]

Rudders are relatively small, move enough and might be ‘fun to play with’...

[Eleutheria5]

There was a recent movie, I think on Netflix, based on Herman Melville’s notebooks, giving the real story on which Moby Dick is based. It was an absorbing watch, and I’m not going to be a spoiler. If you can find it, enjoy it.

[Scarlett156]

All joking aside, orcas are apex predators - like wolves. They are very smart and adaptable, and they don’t respect or fear humans that much. I recently checked out a study that shows their hunting habits have evolved just over the last ten years and they have started hunting gray whales and their calves. Kinda distressing/sad to know about, but I would not take their disabling of boats lightly at all! lol