Attack of the Killer Whales

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Something odd is happening in the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Portugal and on into the Strait of Gibraltar, a narrow strip of water that separates the Atlantic Ocean from the Mediterranean Sea - and also Europe from Africa.   Yachts are being sunk in that area, and not by pirates or terrorists, but rather by Orcas, an extremely large type of dolphin, black and white in color, who resemble whales and are often referred to as "killer whales."  Orcas and whales are both beautiful sea mammals which can pose serious threats to humans, but orcas, which have teeth, are generally regarded as more likely to be aggressive toward humans than whales.

This past Sunday morning a couple were peacefully sailing their yacht through the Strait of Gibraltar when they felt a sudden thumping to their vessel.  They soon discovered that their luxury vessel was under attack from a pod of orcas who were relentlessly pounding the ship's hull with their bodies.  A leak developed at the rudder which could not be fixed, and the couple radioed for help.  They were eventually picked up by a passing oil tanker, and their yacht sank.

Score one for the killer whales.

Actually the killer whales have a long list of victories in that particular area of the world.  The attacks began four years ago this month when just a few orcas started attacking smaller vessels, and gradually the number of participating orcas increased, as did the size of the vessels that they were attacking.  People who study the behavior of animals have come up with multiple theories to explain the aggressive behavior,  from the attacks that were originally generated were revenge for some misdeed done to the orcas by humans, to  the attacks were originally play behavior that has since been copied and built upon.

Researchers are reporting as many as 700 incidents between orcas and sailing vessels in that area since May of 2020, most with little or no harm or damage, but five vessels have been sunk as a result of attacks by the sea mammals.    Fortunately there were no deaths reported with those sinkings.   People manning smaller vessels, like sailboats or yachts, are being encouraged to shut down their engines if they encounter a pod of orcas in that region, and to quit manning their rudders.  Taking those actions apparently cause the highly intelligent creatures to lose interest in the boats.

But for those intent on puttering their million dollar status symbols through the Strait of Gibraltar, just know that a pod of killer whales will not be as in awe of your wealth as you are.  To them your big boat will be nothing more than an afternoon's entertainment.

And I'm okay with that.