An unknown number of orcas sunk a sailing yacht in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar on Sunday, according to Spain’s maritime rescue service. While orcas are typically peaceful, this is the latest in a string of attacks that have hit the region in the past four years.
Reuters reports that a 49-foot-long vessel, named the Alboran Cognac, carried two people and encountered the high social apex predators at 9 am local time on Sunday. The passengers reported sudden blows to the hull and rudder before the water started seeping into the ship. A nearby oil tanker rescued the two onboard and transported them to Gibraltar. The yacht was left to sink into the ocean.
Experts believe the orcas involved to be a subpopulation of about 15 individuals given the name “Gladis.” This group of juvenile males has sunk several yachts in the Strait of Gibraltar over the last four years, but experts are somewhat baffled as to why. While typically peaceful animals, the Gladis pod has plagued the small strip of water separating Europe and Africa for years.
There have been nearly 700 interactions between orcas and ships in the Strait of Gibraltar region since May 2020.
In 2020, photos of the Gladis pod revealed several injuries on the orcas’ bodies, possibly indicating previous run-ins with fishing boats. In a 2023 interview with NPR, director of the Orca Behavior Institute Monika Wieland Shields said we don’t know the motivation, but this could be a defense behavior based on previous trauma. It’s possible the orcas had negative experiences with a fishing boat, so now they see all large boats as a threat.
Yeah, that’s probably it.
I’m rooting for the Orca’s. Are they a protected species? Fuck I hope so
All killer whales are protected under the MMPA and the Southern Resident population is listed as an endangered species under the ESA.
Orcas are at the vanguard of the worker’s revolution. Literally trying to eat the rich.
Reminds me of this read. The Swarm
Whales begin sinking ships. Toxic, eyeless crabs poison Long Island’s water supply. The North Sea shelf collapses, killing thousands in Europe. Around the world, countries are beginning to feel the effects of the ocean’s revenge as the seas and their inhabitants begin a violent revolution against mankind.
I wonder how many missing ships are just the result of orcas bashing their head against the hull until it has sunk, never to be found.
Apparently from what I read, orcas don’t do this but started retaliating in the region after pleasure boats injured one or more calfs a while back. This article suggests it’s a taught behavior by a potential matriarch who had a traumatic experience with boaters. It’s interesting if they wanted to go after people in the water they would, but they don’t, just pleasure boats.
They’re a damn terrorist organisation! We need to invade their country and take care of the situation.
Maybe they just hate rich assholes. I can relate. If I was a protected species I’d do the same thing.
