Vessel measuring 15 metres in length sank after encounter with the animals, Spain’s maritime rescue service reports

An unknown number of orcas have sunk a yacht after ramming it in Moroccan waters in the strait of Gibraltar, Spain’s maritime rescue service has said, in the latest in a series of similar incidents involving the animals.

The vessel, Alboran Cognac, which measured 15 metres (49ft) in length and carried two people, encountered the highly social apex predators, also known as killer whales, at 9am local time on Sunday.

The passengers reported feeling sudden blows to the hull and rudder before the boat started taking on water. After alerting the rescue services, a nearby oil tanker took them onboard and transported them to Gibraltar. The yacht was left adrift and eventually sank.

The incident is the latest example of recurring orca rammings around the Gibraltar strait that separates Europe from Africa and off the Atlantic coast of Portugal and north-western Spain. Experts believe them to involve a subpopulation of about 15 individuals given the designation “Gladis”.

  • Kaput@lemmy.worldEnglish
    64·
    6 months ago

    Theory that just poped in my mind, orcas have been hurt by large boat are now attacking small ones to kill them before they grow.

    • Jo Miran@lemmy.mlEnglish
      55·
      6 months ago

      There is a theory I read that said that it was indeed a boat that accidentally killed a female’s infant. She attacked and figured out that hitting the rudder would make them stop and then she proceeded to teach the pod.

      Another I read was that it started as juvenile Orcas just fucking about and now it’s turned into a preferred pastime. AKA, Orca hooligans.

      Both seem anecdotal and not scientifically provable though.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
        332·
        6 months ago

        The play thing seems to be the favored hypothesis by biologists at present.

        And I kind of love it. Rich people lose their boats because orcas think they’re fun to sink.

      • dogslayeggs@lemmy.worldEnglish
        14·
        6 months ago

        While whale watching in Sea of Cortez, they were saying one small pod of juvenile orcas are straight up dicks. They will attack anything and everything, including taking down blue whales.

        I can absolutely see this as hooliganism.

        • Jo Miran@lemmy.mlEnglish
          1·
          6 months ago

          They were able to trace the start of the behavior down to a single female. All the pods that are doing this are related to her. The “why” did they start is the mystery.