Killer Whales Are Attacking Boats in Spain And Turns Out, They Are Actually Playing a Game

A 66-foot boat was sailing in the Strait of Gibraltar when a killer whale emerged and pounced upon the boat. The force of her hulking body gashed a crack into the boat, and a deluge of water gushed inside. The crew had to pump it out using little yellow-grey buckets. In another incident reported by the New York Times, the whale slammed into the boat so violently that two of the crew members got injured and had to be driven to the doctor. Sights like these are not uncommon these days in this part of Europe.

Off Spain’s southern coast, the killer whales lurking in the Mediterranean waters have gone insane. They crash their gigantic bodies into the boat, rip out their rudders, and dash back into the waters with rudders clinging to their mouths, and their jet black fins trailing behind like sinister shadows. Is this just a playful behavior or a wicked revenge? The question has caused scientists to scratch their heads in puzzlement, reported CBS 8 San Diego.

These attacks started to come to attention in 2020. In 2022, hundreds of sailboats and yachts were knocked off by these predatory Iberian mammals. The cause remained inconceivable. Deeper investigation by scientists and marine biologists revealed that the behavior stemmed from more playfulness than aggression. Robert Pittman, a marine mammal researcher from Oregon University, who studies killer whales, shared with CBS News that, “My personal opinion is that people do revenge. Animals don’t take revenge.”

“These are not attacks; it is almost certainly a game,” says Naomi Rose, senior scientist of marine mammal biology at the Animal Welfare Institute, shared with National Geographic. “The goal is to break the rudder. It's not to sink the boat. It's not to hurt anybody. It's not revenge. Believe me: if they wanted to sink the boats, they'd be sinking the boats. They are really smart.” Pittman explained, “I think they’re just playing around. I think they tried it once and then turned it into a game. And as it is with killer whales, things tend to spread among the group.”

Some researchers believe that most killer whales are “matriarchal.” Quite likely, they had a traumatic experience in the past that harbored feelings of angst in them towards boats, and therefore, they are now seeking revenge. But Pittman still believes that it’s “just playfulness.” “The matriarch is definitely in charge of the group, and if she’s in favor of it, then it will happen. If she says no, then it’ll stop,” he elaborated. He hopes that these attacks won’t lead to people killing the whales. No one has been killed in the recent attacks. According to another explanation shared by Live Science, these orcas could also be just “bored teenagers with more free time since Atlantic bluefin tuna populations, their favorite prey, are on the decline.

Other researchers, like the one in this Facebook video, believe that these boat attacks are just another passing fancy these orcas have, their “unique fads.” In the past few years, the killer whales have been observed engaged in many such bizarre behaviors, from swimming with dead salmon on their heads to indulging in intricate social rituals like nibbling on each other’s tongues and tumbling alongside each other in aquatic mosh pits.

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