- Traumatized female killer whales may be behind the increase in orca attacks on boats.
- Experts told Live Science that the traumatic event may have caused White Gladys’ behavioral changes.
- They suspect other killer whales in the Atlantic Ocean off the Iberian Peninsula are following her example.
Scientists believe a traumatized killer whale known as White Gladys may be behind the increase in attacks on boats in the Atlantic.
Biologist Alfredo López-Fernandez said most interactions between killer whales and boats are harmless, but since 2020 there has been a spike in aggressive behavior towards boats. live science. As an insider recently reported, there have been three incidents in which a distinctive black-and-white creature rammed a ship and sank it.
Lopez-Fernandez said it appears the killer whales may be mimicking this aggressive behavior in other killer whales, and that one female named White Gladys could be the culprit.
Experts believe White Gladys may have experienced “grave moments of distress”, including being hit by a boat and being trapped while fishing illegally, LiveScience reported. there is It is possible that this event traumatized her and led her to ram her other boats.
Because killer whales are highly social creatures, López-Fernández said they may transmit their behavior through imitation.
Lopez Fernandez told LiveScience, “We don’t interpret that killer whales are teaching young people, but their behavior can be spread vertically to young people by simply imitation, and then they become important in life.” It spread laterally to young people because they think it’s something to do,” he said.
a Cooperation of researchers Since 2020, they have found more than 200 reports of “interactions” in the waters around the Iberian Peninsula, in which killer whales approach or touch ships.
Other experts suspect that the behavior change is just a “fad.”
Orca researcher Deborah Giles of the University of Washington told Live Science that “killer whales are incredibly curious and playful animals, so they may be more playthings than aggressive ones.”
Yuri Smichuk/Getty Images
As a British couple vacationing in Morocco recently discovered, while the majority of attacks don’t cause boats to sink, encounters can still be terrifying.
the couple said Times How did you think about escaping on a life raft after a pod of killer whales attacked your yacht while sailing off the northwest coast of Africa?
Janet Morris and Stephen Bidwell had already had an eventful voyage on May 2 when the crew spotted a killer whale in the Strait of Gibraltar.
The couple were awakened from their nap by the crew’s yells of “Shachi! Shachi!” A pod of killer whales began crashing into the 46-foot boat, according to The Times.
Business consultant Morris said, “I couldn’t believe it when I saw them. This is very unusual. We were sitting on ducks. We were amazingly cool, but heartless.” Deep down, I was like, ‘Oh my God,'” he said.
The 58-year-old man added, “We were terrified. It was only afterward that we said we were very scared,” mainly because it was difficult to distinguish between the heavy weather and the movement of the whales. .
The Strait of Gibraltar, which connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea,killer whale alley“Because there are a lot of killer whales in this area.