Scientists are investigating why Orcas are teaching each other to attack ships in Europe

[Odd.]

A spate of encounters between orcas and boats off the Iberian coast has puzzled scientists and sailors recently, as seemingly coordinated ambushes by the killer whales led to the sinking of three vessels. The reason for the attacks, according to one scientist who has studied the phenomenon, may be revenge.
 

The leading theory is that a female orca suffered a traumatic incident with a boat — a “critical moment of agony” — that caused her to start attacking the vessels, Alfredo López Fernandez, a marine biologist at the University of Aveiro in Portugal, told the industry publication Live Science.

 

The majority of the “disruptive” interactions between orcas and boats off the Iberian Peninsula in the past few years — López Fernandez said they numbered in the hundreds — have been brief and caused minimal physical damage to the vessels, according to a report co-written by López Fernandez and published in the journal Marine Mammal Science. But on at least three occasions, including one incident this month involving a sailing yacht, the orcas have sunk the boats. 
 

The female orca, whom scientists named White Gladis, appears to have taught the aggressive behavior to other adult orcas, whose children have begun imitating the behavior, López Fernandez said.

 

 

In most of the interactions, the orcas strike the rudder or hull, the underbody, of the boat, according to the report, which included interviews with sailors and other witnesses to the phenomenon.

Aside from “some punctual aversive incident” that may have triggered the attacks, the report said they may be caused by factors like loss of prey or disturbances by boats. Otherwise, the report said, it may just be because of the killer whales’ “natural curiosity.”

Orcas are known to be extremely intelligent and capable of teaching one another certain behaviors, including actions that could be interpreted as violent. One episode in 2016 involving an orca drowning another’s calf left scientists “horrified” as they described a “first of its kind” observation of orcas carrying out infanticide, which has been documented in other species.

 

The rest of the article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/05/21/orca-killer-whale-boat-attacks/

 

 

[Captain Canuck #12]

I get the feeling somehow AI is behind this.

[bishopshodan]

Not a great development. I get them in my bay and they do happen to be the apex predators in the ocean.

 

I have heard that the moms teach their babies what to eat and what not to and the calfs stick to that diet. This is why they dont attack or eat humans...

Until now? yikes, big mean mofos' that are smart and hunt in packs... Yep, I'm not paddle boarding this year.

[Gurn]

Orca have literally killed people in the wild and in captivity.

AFAIK all 'wild' deaths of humans are from  Orca accidently falling on 'boat' people after a big jump.

 

In captivity the dolphins will occasionally 'snap', and there are a few cases of humans being drowned by the sea panda.

[Odd.]

56 minutes ago, Gurn said:

Orca have literally killed people in the wild and in captivity.

AFAIK all 'wild' deaths of humans are from  Orca accidently falling on 'boat' people after a big jump.

 

In captivity the dolphins will occasionally 'snap', and there are a few cases of humans being drowned by the sea panda.

actually fun fact, Wild Orcas are one of the only whales that have not killed a single human being in modern history. Though there’s been some deaths from Orcas in captivity although very rare.

Edited May 21, 2023 by Odd.

[Phat Fingers]

3 hours ago, Odd. said:

A spate of encounters between orcas and boats off the Iberian coast has puzzled scientists and sailors recently, as seemingly coordinated ambushes by the killer whales led to the sinking of three vessels. The reason for the attacks, according to one scientist who has studied the phenomenon, may be revenge.
 

The leading theory is that a female orca suffered a traumatic incident with a boat — a “critical moment of agony” — that caused her to start attacking the vessels, Alfredo López Fernandez, a marine biologist at the University of Aveiro in Portugal, told the industry publication Live Science.

 

The majority of the “disruptive” interactions between orcas and boats off the Iberian Peninsula in the past few years — López Fernandez said they numbered in the hundreds — have been brief and caused minimal physical damage to the vessels, according to a report co-written by López Fernandez and published in the journal Marine Mammal Science. But on at least three occasions, including one incident this month involving a sailing yacht, the orcas have sunk the boats. 
 

The female orca, whom scientists named White Gladis, appears to have taught the aggressive behavior to other adult orcas, whose children have begun imitating the behavior, López Fernandez said.

 

 

In most of the interactions, the orcas strike the rudder or hull, the underbody, of the boat, according to the report, which included interviews with sailors and other witnesses to the phenomenon.

Aside from “some punctual aversive incident” that may have triggered the attacks, the report said they may be caused by factors like loss of prey or disturbances by boats. Otherwise, the report said, it may just be because of the killer whales’ “natural curiosity.”

Orcas are known to be extremely intelligent and capable of teaching one another certain behaviors, including actions that could be interpreted as violent. One episode in 2016 involving an orca drowning another’s calf left scientists “horrified” as they described a “first of its kind” observation of orcas carrying out infanticide, which has been documented in other species.

 

The rest of the article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/05/21/orca-killer-whale-boat-attacks/

 

 

It’s a Sign!

 

this is our year… only to have animals rise up and destroy all human society just 1 the end of regulation in game 7 of the SCF with us up by 1 goal.

 

And never get finished.

 

As the world we know ends for ever and humans have been sent back to the dark ages.

 

 

[Gurn]

1 hour ago, Odd. said:

actually fun fact, Wild Orcas are one of the only whales that have not killed a single human being in modern history. Though there’s been some deaths from Orcas in captivity although very rare.

I took a look, and it seems the story about the lady killed on the sailboat by a falling killer whale is now attributed to a gray whale.-Quite a case of mistaken identity- like were the people colour blind, and unable to tell the difference between 60 feet of whale, and 30 feet of dolphin?

I did find:

https://www.whalefacts.org/killer-whale-attacks/

There have been very few cases of Orca attacks in the wild, and most marine biologists believe that in most cases, such attacks are a case of mistaken identity, where the dolphin initially identifies the human as a prey animal.

In these cases, the killer whale quickly ceases its actions upon realizing its mistake.

One of the most dramatic examples of this behavior was the 1910 Terra Nova Expedition.

While the expedition was crossing ice floes, a group of killer whales attempted to tip the ice over and spill the men and dogs into the water.

However, most marine biologists believe the trigger for the attack was the dolphins’ mistaking the dogs’ barking for seal calls.

There have been filmed instances where killer whales have tipped ice floes over to spill seals into the water where they can be killed and eaten.

This makes the mistaken identity theory a logical explanation for the incident.

Other recorded cases suffer from uncertainty about the dolphins’ intentions or whether the attacker was even a killer whale.

For example, in an 1820 incident, sailors from Essex claimed that their lifeboats were attacked by killer whales but could not conclusively state that their attackers were Orcas.

...............

In fact, there is currently only one case of a confirmed killer whale attack in the wild.

This attack occurred in 1972 and involved a surfer named Hans Kretschmer.

The attack resulted in him requiring over 100 stitches and could easily have resulted in a fatality.

Other than that, the number of reported attacks in the wild is minimal, often with no attacks occurring in an entire year."

..........

^ that one was a surfer, hanging out around seals and got bit- likely by mistake, like a shark thinking he's getting a seal, not a prone surfer on his board.

[Nuxfanabroad]

Not a scientific expert(have been told), but suspect this behaviour is strongly linked to the surging trend of family fights at Disneyland theme parks.

[Quantum]

 

This Fisherman better be ready when he shows up in Vancouver next season. All bets are off.

[AV's Coin]

I hope the resident pods dont suddenly learn to eat surfers due to the lack of salmon

[Gurn]

1 hour ago, AV's Coin said:

I hope the resident pods dont suddenly learn to eat surfers due to the lack of salmon

Iirc "River Monsters' did a show on piranha, and found that you were perfectly fine swimming with those fish, as long as you weren't cut.

Then followed up that story with an update;

that in a different river basin, the piranha were now attacking un cut animals and people; due to all their 'normal' food being eaten by a larger invasive fish.

 

When you are starving you will  try to eat a lot of different things.

[chon derry]

Northern transient pods have been seen off California. I’ve heard ocean temps have cooled down in that particular area for some reason?  it’s also attracted fish. There’s also been west coast salmon species up in the North Atlantic sea.so the theory of missing salmon might not be totally true but stocks moving to a more habitable/ survivable area ?  Possibly attributed to arctic ice melt making the migration easier ? Sea temps are definatly changing feeding habits of fish but also the whole food chain. Edit. Large schools of skeena river bound spring salmon have also been observed/ caught off the coast of California. Because of changing sea temps. This would for sure attract the northern pods into following them southbound.since the spring salmon is their primary food of choice , also there are spring runs in the north that happen during winter months, ie the lakelse run which strangely has white meat.  There is a variant pod called Biggs orca which travel from Cali to Alaska. Their diet isn’t just fish but mammals as well. So to see northern pods that far south is interesting. Did they follow the Biggs pod? 

Edited May 22, 2023 by chon derry

[Moe Knows]

8 hours ago, Gurn said:

Orca have literally killed people in the wild and in captivity.

AFAIK all 'wild' deaths of humans are from  Orca accidently falling on 'boat' people after a big jump.

 

In captivity the dolphins will occasionally 'snap', and there are a few cases of humans being drowned by the sea panda.

Literally ??? Like they wrote books about it.....

[Gurn]

15 minutes ago, Moe Knows said:

Literally ??? Like they wrote books about it.....

I said literally, not literaturely.

Edited May 22, 2023 by Gurn

[AV's Coin]

 

[D-Money]

11 hours ago, Gurn said:

Orca have literally killed people in the wild and in captivity.

AFAIK all 'wild' deaths of humans are from  Orca accidently falling on 'boat' people after a big jump.

 

In captivity the dolphins will occasionally 'snap', and there are a few cases of humans being drowned by the sea panda.

[Canuck You]

Orca's just trying to tank the ship going nowhere.

[Ghostsof1915]

Orcas are taking over.

Hail our Orca overloads.

[24K PureCool]

12 minutes ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

Orcas are taking over.

Hail our Orca overloads.

I for one welcome our Orca overlords. 

Can't do worse than humans. 

[Ghostsof1915]