Experts: “Orcas ‘Attacking’ Boats Are Actually Just Bored Teenagers”
In news that might sound encouraging but is probably of comfort to absolutely no one, the recent spate of orcas attacking boats does not appear to be driven by malice, but rather, by mischief — and teenage apathy.
“Hundreds of dangerous boat-ramming incidents over the past five years have cast orcas as deep-sea villains plotting to take back the ocean,” the Washington Post reported a few weeks ago. “But the killer whales causing mayhem off Europe’s Iberian Peninsula might actually just be a playful fad among bored teen orcas. That’s the leading theory among a group of more than a dozen orca experts who have spent years studying the incidents.”
The experts, including biologists, government officials and marine industry representatives, released a report outlining their hypothesis: “The orcas just want to have fun, and in the vast — and rather empty — open waters, the boats’ rudders are a prime toy.”
“There’s nothing in the behavior of the animals that suggests that they’re being aggressive,” another member of the working group said. “As they play with the rudder, they don’t understand that they can damage the rudder. It’s more playful than intentional.”
Orcas are famously fun-loving, which likely/ironically made them desirable attractions for theme parks. The research group said that the rebound in the bluefin tuna population, meaning plentiful food for killer whales, has effectively given orca populations off the Iberian Peninsula more free time for play — though it’s still not clear why orcas are attracted to rudders.“Maybe [an] individual touched a rudder and felt that it was something fun to play with, and it began propagating the behavior among the group until it became as widespread as it is now,” said one researcher.
“In other words, it became a ridiculous fad — not unlike, say, the viral Tide pod or cinnamon challenges,” the Post wrote. “It wouldn’t be the first time that killer whales mimicked a particular craze. In the past, some populations have taken to wearing dead salmon as hats or playing games of chicken. And, just like human fads, the trends have a tendency to make comebacks years later,” a researcher said.
The research group recognized the peril that orca playtime poses to boats. The Post said that since 2020, members of a small group of killer whales have rammed into at least 673 vessels off the coasts of Portugal, Spain and Morocco, causing some boats to sink. The researchers worry that frustrated mariners might “launch flares or other devices to deter whales. Not only could those measures deafen or harm whales, they might backfire by ‘making the game even more fun for them,'” a researcher said, adding: “The more dangerous it is for the orcas, the more thrill they seem to get out of it.”
Ahh, kids these days…!
I have an alternative, and much sadder, theory. The waters from Northwest Africa to Spain, Portugal, and France are heavily trafficked by refugees trying find a way into Europe. They are often in small, underpowered, and badly overloaded boats. Many of these boats simply disappear and don’t get stopped by authorities, return to Africa, or land safely in Europe. I have no proof it is so, but my theory is that at least some of these boats are sunk deliberately by orcas who once they learn that it can get them a meal, will repeat it and teach it to others. What won’t capsize or sink a large commercial ship or even a 50 ft yacht, could easily sink an overloaded refugee boat. I sincerely hope I’m wrong.
I think this is nonsense. Look in this article at the map of Orca encounters. The vast majority are not on migration routes. https://www.yachtingworld.com/cruising/orca-attacks-rudder-losses-and-damage-as-incidents-escalate-133968
I never bought into the “attacking” idea. Sea mammals aren’t fish. The geography is interesting though. Along those lines, if it begins out here on our lovely Northeast Pacific I think I’d just mitigate the risks of sinking and loss of rudder control.
I now live in Charleston, and plan to do a trans-Atlantic crossing next year to Gibraltar, so have been following these reports with interest. Here in the wonderful Carolinas, fireworks are legal. I plan to carry a small stash of M-80s. These are firecrackers on steroids, reportedly equal to about a quarter stick of dynamite. And they have waterproof fuses. I’m hoping I won’t have to deploy them- just as I hope I never have to deploy my life raft. But no effin’ way I’m risking the destruction of my boat and our safety to a bunch of “bored teenager” orcas. Might even carry a harpoon on deck. But it’d need to be carbon. Of course.