Live Science reported on the fact that young killer whale calves are also learning how to attack boats.
“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,” Alfredo López Fernandez, a biologist at the University of Aveiro in Portugal and representative of the Atlantic Orca Working Group told the outlet.
López Fernandez was referencing a worrisome run of attacks on boats in the Strait of Gibraltar. In an attack on May 4 off the coasts of Spain, three orcas repeatedly rammed and aimed at a boat’s rudder.
Live Science reports that Werner Schaufelberger said, “The small ones shook rudders at the rear while the large one repeatedly backed and rammed ship with full power from the sides.”
The Spanish coastguard rescued Schaufelberger, his crew and the boat at the port entrance.
Nine News in Australia reported that just two days prior to the attack on Schaufelberger’s yacht, an experienced sailor from Leeds, United Kingdom, Greg Blackburn, tangled six of these apex predators.
