Orcas sink another boat in Europe after a nearly hour-long attack
For the fourth time in two years, a group of unusually brazen orcas in southwestern Europe have sunk a sailing boat after relentlessly attacking it for almost an hour on Halloween.
A pod of orcas has attacked and sunk another boat in southwestern Europe after relentlessly bombarding the vessel and its crew for almost an hour on Halloween. It is the fourth time that orcas from this region's population have sunk a vessel in the last two years.
On Oct. 31, the Grazie Mamma — a mid-size sailing yacht owned by Polish cruise company Morskie Mile — was attacked by an unknown number of orcas for around 45 minutes off the coast of Morocco in the Strait of Gibraltar, Morskie Mile representatives wrote in a Facebook post translated from Polish.
The orcas (Orcinus orca), also known as killer whales, repeatedly hit the yacht's rudder causing major damage and allowing water into the vessel's hull. Despite receiving aid from the Moroccan Navy and being towed toward safety, the boat eventually sank as it entered the port of Tanger-Med in Morocco. All passengers were safely evacuated to rescue boats before the ship sank.
The unusual attack is the latest example of one of many unnerving new orca behaviors that have highlighted the striking intelligence of these deadly predators.
Related: 11 ways orcas show their terrifying intelligence
Since 2020, orcas have been regularly harassing boats in the Strait of Gibraltar — a narrow strait between Spain and Morocco that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea — and the surrounding waters off the coast of the Iberian peninsula.
These nautical raids were likely started by a pod including White Gladis, a female orca who may have been traumatized by a past boat collision. The unusual behavior then spread among other individuals who seem to be becoming more daring and efficient with their attacks.
So far, at least three other boats have been sunk in the area, with the most recent incident occurring in May 2023 and the previous two both occurring in 2022. And in June, a yacht had its rudder ripped clean off with "ruthless efficiency" in a 15-minute attack.
Researchers suspect that orcas are learning to attack boats from one another. Witnesses have also reported seeing orcas "teach" other individuals how to maximize the damage they cause, Live Science previously reported.
Related: How often do orcas attack humans?
So far, only one other boat has been attacked outside of the Strait of Gibraltar and its surrounding waters: A yacht in Scotland, more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) away, which was rammed by a lone individual. However, it is impossible to directly link this attack to the other orcas.
Boat attacks are not the only unusual learned orca behavior that scientists have taken note of in recent years.
Since 2017, a pair of orcas known as Port and Starboard have killed dozens of great white sharks in South Africa by ripping out their livers. And on Oct. 17 this year, this behavior was also documented in Australia for the first time, hinting it may also be spreading.
Live Science newsletter
Stay up to date on the latest science news by signing up for our Essentials newsletter.
Harry is a U.K.-based staff writer at Live Science. He studied Marine Biology at the University of Exeter (Penryn campus) and after graduating started his own blog site "Marine Madness," which he continues to run with other ocean enthusiasts. He is also interested in evolution, climate change, robots, space exploration, environmental conservation and anything that's been fossilized. When not at work he can be found watching sci-fi films, playing old Pokemon games or running (probably slower than he'd like).
-
Rivegauche610 Time to start responding with extreme prejudice. Who do they think they are, trumpanzees? Russians?Reply -
orcaenjoyer Time to start breeding more orcas and letting them loose in the Mediterranean and Somalian coastsReply -
Orca10 I definitely agree with that idea...they are retaliating to the abuse they suffered from human beings....remember, they are highly intelligent....Reply -
georgeodjungle We've been experimenting with a trailing hot wire it's a little hard on the anodes but they turn tail works on mostly everything except sealsReply
12 volt okay 24 works better 120 works really really well but again it's hard on the anodes
Most Popular
By Robert Lea
By Robert Lea