The orca decides to take revenge after being hit by the yacht; Since then, Gladys has become adept at the art of training her compatriots to turn boats, according to the researchers.
• Also read: Killer whales killing sharks off South Africa
• Also read: [PHOTOS] Immersed in 3°C water, the apnea hero watches killer whales
The Telegraph reported that the whale had actually attacked three boats, destroying two of them, on British soil, in Gibraltar.
Scientists believe that Gladys seeks revenge after experiencing a traumatic event, such as being hit by a boat or being caught in a fishing net.
“It was this traumatized killer whale that triggered the physical contact behavior with the boat,” Alfredo López Fernández, a biologist at the University of Aveiro, Portugal and a representative of the Atlantic Orca Working Group, told The Telegraph.
Other orcas began to mimic his behaviour.
Attacked a couple “with admiration for nature”
On May 2, a group of six predators surprised a Cambridge couple as they were loading their yacht near Tangiers, Morocco.
Janet Morris and Stephen Bidwill, both 58, who were taking a sailing course at the time, say they were “in awe of the power of nature.”
“Obviously an older woman was there who seemed to be supervising [l’opération]says Mr. Bidwill.
It was “an experience I will never forget.”