Orcas Strike Again

"It’s a shame that we humans are in the middle of this game."

Back in Action

Killer whales are back at it again off the coast of Spain — and this time, there's a new theory about their mysterious motivations.

As the New York Times and other outlets report, a pod of orcas destroyed the rudder of the Amidala, a sailboat with a two-person Belgian crew that became stranded after the attack near Cape Finisterre, a peninsula near Galicia, Spain.

Though the boat didn't sink, the rescue effort was hindered by high winds and waves, resulting in injuries to one of the crew member's hands as the Amidala was being towed. Ultimately, it took four hours to get the boat back to shore.

While far from the most severe, this latest orca ramming again raises questions about the animals' motives as sailors share tips — and apps — with each other on how to survive such attacks.

A previous theory circulated last year suggested that the Iberian Coast's killer whales may be acting out of revenge due to traumatic events in their pasts. Other scientists have suggested, as the NYT notes, that the animals may just be bored teenagers goofing off.

Wave Theory

As this latest attack garners headlines, a new research paper out of Spain's Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute (BDRI) posits that these pods of Iberian orcas are essentially using boats as target practice when teaching their young how to hunt for bluefin tuna, which can be up to 10 feet long and are very fast.

Soon to be published in the journal Ocean & Coastal Management, the paper points out that although the sailboat-pursuing orcas are generally younger, adult pod members are sometimes seen during these ramming incidents.

This suggests, per the Spanish researchers' line of reasoning, that the older orcas are teaching their young — and with most going straight for the rudders, it seems their lessons are taking hold.

"This is like a training toy," Bruno Díaz López, the institute's chief biologist, explained to the NYT. "It’s a shame that we humans are in the middle of this game, but they are learning."

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