Killer whales just want to have fun (Picture: Getty)
Since May 2020, reports of Iberian killer whales ramming and sinking luxury boats have circulated, with several of the vessels sinking.
‘Attacks’ have taken place off the coasts of Portugal, Spain and Gibraltar.
As they continued, experts speculated that it could be a defence mechanism after one matriarch, a whale known as White Gladis, may have ‘suffered a critical moment of agony’ involving a boat – leading others to start attacking them.
However, it turns out to be quite the opposite, and the whales are simply playing. Just in a terrifying fashion for those unwittingly part of the game.
A report just released by the International Whaling Commission, revealed that younger whales just want to have a bit of fun and do not secretly have some anti-capitalist ‘eat the rich’ agenda.
The report was commissioned by the Spanish and Portuguese governments as interactions increased, with some reports suggesting the whales have interacted with vessels at least 673 times.
Orcas have been interacting with boats since 2020 (Picture: Getty/iStockphoto)
The report said: ‘There was no evidence that the interactions between Iberian killer whales and vessels are aggressive on the whales’ part.
‘The behaviour has more in common with fads seen elsewhere and seems associated with play or socialising, perhaps encouraged by the recent increased abundance and availability of prey – reducing the time needed for foraging – and by the reduction in negative interactions with fisheries.
‘The use of words such as “aggression” or “attack” to describe such interactions is thus inappropriate.’
The report highlighted that orcas, especially juveniles, have free time, curiosity and a natural playfulness has led to orcas joining the trend of boat bashing.
But orcas famously have a habit of jumping on trends, which has led to other strange scenes.
Back in 1987, the habit of wearing a dead salmon like a hat suddenly emerged, but disappeared soon after. The trend reappeared in 2008, and again, quickly disappeared.
As for having more free time, it seems that as the number of bluefin tuna numbers have recovered in seas where the orcas live, they have more time to indulge in hobbies, which,it turns out, includes ramming into private boats.
Killer whales are found all over the world (Picture: Getty)
‘It was suggested that some level of playful interactions began earlier with young juveniles, although these initial interactions did not result in rudder damage, the report said. ‘This playful behaviour may have escalated as the animals grew older.’
The committee hopes that knowing the behaviour is playful may help reduce any potentially dangerous interactions. It advises trying to make rudders less interesting for the fish by making them abrasive and bumpy.
They added: ‘Move away from the whales as quickly as possible, at least 2 to 3km (1.2 to 1.9 miles) from the area in which the whales were encountered, either toward the coast, in the Gulf of Cádiz and Strait of Gibraltar, or toward an area where rescue can be expedited.’
While killer whales are not endangered, they are still wild animals and should not be approached or engaged deliberately in any way.
Or belly-flopped on, which would seem obvious, yet last week a man was fined NZ$600 (£290) for attempting to ‘body-slam’ an orca in New Zealand.