The Straight of Gibraltar orcas have sunk another boat – but are they seeking revenge, or just having fun?
Orcas have sunk a fourth boat in the Mediterranean Sea after the sailing yacht Grazie Mamma, owned by Polish company Morskie Mile, was targeted off the coast of Morocco in what has been described as a ‘relentless’ 45-minute long attack during the afternoon of 31 October.
Orcas – also known as killer whales (Orcinus orca) have now damaged more than 250 boats in the area since the spate of attacks began in 2020. A total of four boats have been sunk in the last two years.
Similar to other incidents earlier in the year, the orcas appeared to deliberately target the yacht’s rudder. In doing so, they damaged the hull to such an extent that the vessel began to take on water. Despite being rescued by the Moroccan Navy, the boat sank as it was being towed into the Moroccan port of Tanger-Med.
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The attacks in the narrow channel that connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean have been carried out by a 35-strong group of orca officially known as the Strait of Gibraltar sub-population (also called the Iberian population by Spanish conservationists). A female matriarch known as White Gladis has been identified as a ringleader of the attacks.
The behaviour appears to have spread to other members of the pod, with younger animals having apparently learned the behaviour from their elders – orcas, whose intelligence has long been well-established, are known to teach their young other skills, such as hunting.
The motivation behind the attacks is unknown, but it has been suggested they are a form of retaliation for some sort of trauma experienced by White Gladis. There is little evidence to support the theory, but the orcas might have some justification in feeling threatened by boats as – at just 13km (8.1 miles) wide at its narrowest point – the Strait of Gibraltar is heavy with marine traffic, from industrial tankers and cargo ships passing through the Gulf of Suez, to fishing vessels that gather in the Strait to hunt Atlantic bluefin tuna.
As the Strait of Gibraltar orcas are known to follow the movements of the tuna population throughout the year, fishing puts humans in direct competition for resources with the orcas, which have been known to steal the tuna from the lines of the local fishers.
Scientists have cautioned against anthropomorphising the orca’s behaviour, however, for fear that the idea the orcas are seeking vengeance may lead people to retaliate against the already critically endangered population. Some have speculated that even though the behaviour has caused severe damage to the boats, snapping off the rudder may be just orcas having fun, after all, if a 6m-long 5-tonne marine mammal really wanted to sink a small yacht, it would have little trouble doing so.
Orca specialist and president of Conservation, Information and Research on Cetaceans (CIRCE), Renaud de Stephanis, who has been studying orcas since 1996, supported the idea that breaking the boats might be a form of game. In an interview with the BBC following the earlier attacks in June, de Stephanis described research he has been conducting which involves filming orcas that have been presented with dummy rudders, noting that the orcas aren’t biting the rudders but pushing them with their noses until they break.
‘They’re pushing, pushing, pushing – boom! It’s a game, ‘ he told the BBC. ‘That’s all it is. Imagine a kid of 6, 7 years, with a weight of three tonnes. That’s it, nothing less, nothing more. If they wanted to wreck the boat, they would break it in 10 minutes’ time.’
