This news could make boat owners sweat pretty hard: the ship-sinking killer whales seem to have found a new playing area. While the attacks have so far only occurred off the Portuguese and Spanish coasts, a new incident occurred near the Shetland Islands, a British subarctic archipelago west of Norway.
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An attack in the north is worrying first
On Monday, June 19, Dr. Wim Rutten, a 72-year-old retired Dutch physicist and experienced yachtsman, was sailing alone from Lerwick to Bergen in Norway. He was hunting for mackerel when the boat bug suddenly appeared and slammed into the stern of the seven-ton boat.
‘Shit,’ said I, ‘I heard of the incidents of the Portuguese, Tell the Guardian Yacht. The animal struck again and again, causing gentle shocks through the aluminum casing. What I found most frightening was the very loud breathing of the animal. The killer whale kept behind the boat, searching for the keel. Then it disappeared…but came back at full speed, two or three times…and circled around a bit. Maybe she just wanted to play. Or look into my eyes. Or to get rid of the fishing line.
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Why do orcas attack boats?
So this attack took place about 4,800 kilometers from Gibraltar, which is where the other incidents took place. Dr Connor Ryan, scientific advisor to the Hebrew Whale and Dolphin Organization, which has studied orca pods off the coast of Scotland, explained: “I would be reluctant to say that this cannot be learned from southerners. It is possible that this ‘fad’ is being passed on in different groups/communities. There could be very mobile pods that can pass on this behavior over long distances.”.
Yet the world thinks so “Human activities, even indirectly, are driving this behaviour. Increased shipping traffic, dwindling food sources, warming seas and sound pollution Everyone can 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 explained by scientists. The latest, revealed in the journal Marine Mammal Science, indicates that these attacks will involve nine killer whales divided into two groups: three or even four young individuals. and a mixed-age group led by an adult female named White Gladys.
It is she – the only adult female involved in the attacks – who will hold the key to the mystery. According to the article’s authors, White Gladys will seek revenge after being hit by a ship. She had developed a technique for sinking boats, which she would then teach to the youngest.
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