Why Killer Whales Are Attacking Luxury Yachts?

For four years, orcas have been ramming and sinking luxury yachts in European waters, and scientists have struggled to understand why these social animals have learned this destructive new trick. The attacks started suddenly in the spring of 2020 when pods of endangered killer whales began ramming yachts. Since May 2020, reports of Iberian killer whales ramming and sinking luxury boats have circulated, with several of the vessels sinking.

An unknown number of orcas, also known as killer whales, repeatedly rammed the 49-ft (15-m) yacht Alboran Cognac in the Straight of Gilbraltar. Since May 2020, reports of Iberian killer whales ramming and sinking luxury boats have circulated, with several of the vessels sinking. Scientists may finally have an answer to why killer whales keep attacking boats near Gibraltar. A combination of free time, curiosity, and natural playfulness has led to young orcas adopting this trend of boat-bumping, which is not at all surprising for a species that has been known to adopt odd, isolated behaviors from time to time.

The reason why certain whales are taking such a forward interest in boats is still unclear, but experts have two theories. Two theories are that the Strait of Gibraltar is one of the world’s busiest waterways, and while orcas only approach a tiny fraction of the boats that go through it, the attacks on small boats follow the same pattern: orcas join in approaching from the stern, disabling the boat by hitting the rudder, and then lose interest. Recent incidents when orcas attacked boats and sank them include the Oct. 31 incident where a pod of orcas sank a mid-size sailing yacht named the Grazie Mamma after a 45-minute interaction.

Researchers don’t know for sure why the whales have been attacking boats, but they think it may be one of the ways the orcas play, a pretty dangerous form of amusement. Others have theorized that it’s a short-term fad among the animals, or that one orca experienced a traumatic encounter with a boat. The precise reason is very hard to know for sure, but we do know the behavior has spread through her group.