Orcas Having Fun Sink Boats, Strand Sailors

Orcas are attacking sailboats off the Iberian Peninsula again, destroying rudders and stranding crews. In August, killer whales tore the rudder off a German boat in the Vigo estuary in Galicia, Spanish newspaper Faro de Vigo reported.

The cheeky creatures continued to “play” with the sailboat, ramming

 it even as it was being towed to safety. Researchers don’t know why  the apex predators are behaving badly around boats, but they think they’re being playful rather than aggressive.

“These are not attacks; it is almost certainly a game,” Naomi Rose, marine-mammal biologist at the Animal Welfare Institute, tells National Geographic. “The goal is to break the rudder. It’s not to sink the boat. It's not to hurt anybody. It's not revenge. Believe me: if they wanted to sink the boats, they'd be sinking the boat. They are really smart.”

But they have been sinking boats. This pod – 40 or so critically endangered Iberian orcas – has been attacking boats off the coast of Spain and Portugal for the past five years, sinking several vessels and disabling many others.

The encounters usually involve juvenile orcas targeting rudders on sailboats, a behavior likened to bored teenagers with too much free time on their hands. It’s possible the idle youth are spending less time hunting because their favorite prey – Atlantic bluefin tuna — has been abundant in recent years, thanks to conservation efforts in the region.

Orca behavior has been interesting to watch, if nothing else. Researchers have observed the species using kelp as loofas, wearing dead salmon as hats, or even just being nice guys, bringing gifts to humans. As for the juvenile delinquents attacking boats, boaters are being advised to just steer clear of them when possible.

“This is not a whale problem, it’s a people problem,” Rose says. “They live there. That's their home 24/7. We just sail through it.”

Photo credit: Simon Hurry / Pexels