Orcas opened another front in the war against yachts and their rudder this week when a yacht en route from England to Norway was hit by killer whales in the North Sea.
The incident happened near the Shetland Islands nearly 2,000 miles from the Strait of Gibraltar, where the initial attacks took place. guardian report:
Dr Wim Rutten, a 72-year-old retired Dutch physicist and yachtsman, is sailing solo from Lerwick to Bergen in Norway. He was fishing for mackerel with a single line at the back of the boat when the orca suddenly appeared in the clear water and crashed into the stern of the 7-ton boat.
“I said: ‘Damn it!’” Rutten, who said he had heard of the “accidents in Portugal”, told the Guardian. The whale bumped repeatedly, creating “light shocks” through the aluminum hull.
“What I feel [was] The scariest thing was the animal’s very loud breathing,” he said. The orcas stayed behind the boat “looking for life. Then he disappeared… but came back at a quick pace, two or three times… and circled around a bit.
“Maybe he just wanted to play. Or look me in the eye. Or to get rid of the fishing line.”
This is the first report of an orcas attack in these waters since orcas began interacting with boats around the Strait of Gibraltar off the coasts of Spain and Morocco. Had at least 20 attacks on yachts In the past month alone, marine mammals have sunk three ships.
The researchers believe the attacks may have been coordinated by an older orca named Gladis who, in theory, could have had a traumatic clash with an illegal fishing boat. Since then, she has taught the younger orcas in the group how to neutralize such boats. It can also be hunting training, fun or even a “fad”. Orcas have highly evolved social groups and fads that have been known to spread like wildfire between different groups, such as in 1987 when a scientist noticed an orca balancing on its head. a dead salmon. This odd behavior spread to other animals, according to Atlas Obscura.
