Orcas have sunk 3 boats in Europe and appear to be teaching others to do the same. But why?

[Racan]

Orcas have sunk 3 boats in Europe and appear to be teaching others to do the same. But why?

Scientists think a traumatized orca initiated the assault on boats after a "critical moment of agony" and that the behavior is spreading among the population through social learning.

www.livescience.com

Most encounters have been harmless, López Fernandez told Live Science in an email. "In more than 500 interaction events recorded since 2020 there are three sunken ships. We estimate that killer whales only touch one ship out of every hundred that sail through a location."

The spike in aggression towards boats is a recent phenomenon, López Fernandez said. Researchers think that a traumatic event may have triggered a change in the behavior of one orca, which the rest of the population has learned to imitate.

"The orcas are doing this on purpose, of course, we don't know the origin or the motivation, but defensive behavior based on trauma, as the origin of all this, gains more strength for us every day," López Fernandez said.

Experts suspect that a female orca they call White Gladis suffered a "critical moment of agony" — a collision with a boat or entrapment during illegal fishing — that flipped a behavioral switch. "That traumatized orca is the one that started this behavior of physical contact with the boat," López Fernandez said.

Another theory for the cause of these attacks:

Anti-Fouling Paint May Be Cause of Orca Attacks on Yachts

A fascinating article from Marine Industry UK has offered an interesting explanation for the increase in Orca attacks on yachts. The attacks have made global headlines over the past three years as the whales have become increasingly brazen and methodical. Most of the attacks have occurred near...

www.boatblurb.com

 

[igor_kavinski]

Did that Orca see the latest Avatar movie?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Great, now we (humanity, all of us) have pissed off the Orca kingdom.

 

[Racan]

Did that Orca see the latest Avatar movie?

Payakan!

 

[igor_kavinski]

Great, now we (humanity, all of us) have pissed off the Orca kingdom.

Sadly, we will do more harm to them than they can hurt us.

 

[lxskllr]

I can't imagine what humans could have done to pissoff the animals :rollseyes:

I like this trend.

 

[biostud]

Floaty snack.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Floaty snack.

I wonder if they can down an ocean liner coz those have the juiciest fat tourists.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

And a Hippo sunk a canoe in Malawi (not Tippecanoe ).

Death toll up to 7 after hippo capsized canoe in Malawi; 17 missing

The death toll has risen to seven people after a hippopotamus charged into and capsized a canoe on a river in the southern African nation of Malawi

abcnews.go.com

 

[sandorski]

The Happening is happening. Except with boats and animals.[/longsceneofoceanwaves]

 

[brianmanahan]

I can't imagine what humans could have done to pissoff the animals :rollseyes:

I like this trend.

free willy 4: revenge of the free

 

[Red Squirrel]

We could be underestimating the intelligence of whales, maybe they realize we're actually a threat to the oceans and we're the reason for all the pollution in them. Or it's just some weird freak thing.

 

[igor_kavinski]

We could be underestimating the intelligence of whales

I bet their brain mass is bigger than ours. So I'm sure they can figure it out that we are the polluters.

 

[pcgeek11]

And a Hippo sunk a canoe in Malawi (not Tippecanoe ).

Death toll up to 7 after hippo capsized canoe in Malawi; 17 missing

The death toll has risen to seven people after a hippopotamus charged into and capsized a canoe on a river in the southern African nation of Malawi

abcnews.go.com

Hippo Attacks: How Dangerous Are They To Humans?

Hippos may seem cute, but are they dangerous? Let's discover why hippos are considered some of the most dangerous animals in the world.

a-z-animals.com

Not uncommon at all " There are about 500 deaths per year to humans in Africa. The number is shockingly large and outpaces nearly any other animal on earth. Hippos are known as some of the deadliest land animals in the world, with the mosquito being the overall winner. "

 

[Torn Mind]

We could be underestimating the intelligence of whales, maybe they realize we're actually a threat to the oceans and we're the reason for all the pollution in them. Or it's just some weird freak thing.

Malcolm Belgua Blaster X.

 

[sdifox]

And a Hippo sunk a canoe in Malawi (not Tippecanoe ).

Death toll up to 7 after hippo capsized canoe in Malawi; 17 missing

The death toll has risen to seven people after a hippopotamus charged into and capsized a canoe on a river in the southern African nation of Malawi

abcnews.go.com

Err hippos are very violent, this is not new.

 

[sportage]

BREAKING NEWS
Orca gang caught purchasing AK-47's with claiming their right to bear arms is protected under the Tuna-Of-The-Sea act.
NRA endorses Orca bearing arms. Smells fishy to me.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

You just pulled that out of your haddock, didn't you?

 

[Torn Mind]

BREAKING NEWS
Orca gang caught purchasing AK-47's with claiming their right to bear arms is protected under the Tuna-Of-The-Sea act.
NRA endorses Orca bearing arms. Smells fishy to me.

You just pulled that out of your haddock, didn't you?

Whales be like: "goddamn humans, we're freaking mammals too, YA KNOW. We broke from the hippo tribe and WENT BACK IN".

 

[igor_kavinski]

As a child, I went to a zoo with my parents. I remember the rhino seeing me and running towards me. I don't think it was happy to see me. But then I've heard they have poor eyesight so maybe it was running towards me to get a better look at me? I don't remember exactly what happened. Just that I did not like the sight of the rhino running towards me and just bolted. It's all a blur.

 

[JPS35]

It's all been seen before:

Orca, der Killerwal (1977) ⭐ 5.7 | Adventure, Drama, Horror

1h 32m | 12

www.imdb.com

 

[KB]

Cant really blame them. We are depleting the ocean, polluting the ocean and our boats probably hit them first.

 

[RLGL]

Show real proof.

 

[nakedfrog]

Cant really blame them. We are depleting the ocean, polluting the ocean and our boats probably hit them first.

Friendly orca killed by propeller | HeraldNet.com

SEATTLE - Luna, the juvenile killer whale from Washington state waters who got lost in Canada’s Nootka Sound five years ago, apparently died Friday when he was accidentally struck by a tugboat propeller, Canadian authorities said.

www.heraldnet.com

 

[spacejamz]

why are these idiots still sailing through those areas after 20+ attacks?

Orcas Pushed Yacht Around Like ‘Rag Doll’ After Taking Off Rudders — But Sailor Said They Seemed 'Playful'

In the latest dramatic interaction between orcas and boats, a pod of killer whales left a yacht marooned, but a sailor said the interaction didn't strike him as being aggressive

people.com