Killer whales ram into boats, but experts warn against calling it revenge on humans

A strange new phenomenon involving marine mammals has captured the public’s imagination — and theories that killer whales deliberately target humans as an act of revenge have flooded social media.

This story of a “killer whale revolt” stems from our tendency to project human psychology onto intelligent wild animals, according to Justin Gregg, a senior researcher for the Dolphin Communication Project and author of If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity.

“I think we always want to see their behavior as human, that’s why people see it as revenge, because that’s a very human thing to do,” he said. The current guest host, Susan Ormiston.

“We think of other animals as little people, but they lead their own complicated lives, which are fundamentally different.”

Orca pods began playing with yachts in 2020, ramming them, spinning them around and in some cases terrifying those on board. This behavior is gaining momentum off the southwest coast of Europe and experts believe it is being passed from killer whale to killer whale.

Killer whales have broken the rudders of some boats in half and caused at least three sailing ships to sink, the government said. Atlantic Orca Working Group. Their high-risk behavior was first reported in late June in the North Sea, near the Shetland Islands in Scotland.

In the past three years, there have been more than 400 reports published by the Atlantic Orca Working Group of orcas responding to boats off the coasts of Portugal and Spain, and near the Strait of Gibraltar. Of the cases going back to 2022, 142 were categorized as “killer whale interactions,” where an animal touched a boat, and 283 were considered “quiet passages.”

But yachts have been around for centuries, so why the sudden interest?

Gregg’s theory: “It’s probably just a fluke.”

For them, breaking down a great rudder isn’t much of a problem. It would be like breaking a Pop-Tart in half.-Justin Gregg

Trendy new game or violent attack?

Like any fad, Gregg predicts that the orcas will mimic this behavior for a while, but eventually it will die out. When he first clicked on one of the viral “killer whale attack” videos, he said he was surprised how “non-violent” the encounter was.

“They sort of lazily swim up to the rudder, and they sort of bump into it and it breaks in half,” Gregg said.

“They’re huge animals. So for them, breaking down a great rudder isn’t a big deal. It would be like breaking a Pop-Tart in half.”

Deborah Giles, the science and research director for the conservation group Wild Orca, suspects the orcas are just having a little fun, playing with the yachts like huge bath toys.

“They interact with the keels that stick into the water,” she said.

Giles prefers the term “interaction” to “ramming” because the latter implies aggression, and she says killer whales have never been known to be hostile or aggressive toward humans in the wild.

“[They’re] just downright curious,” she said, likening these interactions to a cat rubbing against someone’s leg.

“I’ve literally seen orcas bodysurfing in the wake of these big ships. They’re curious animals and love to interact with their environment.”

Confusing playfulness with violence

Giles worries about the possibility of harmful deterrents being used to prevent the killer whales from damaging expensive ships.

She points to the Portuguese government’s efforts to minimize these interactions in harmless ways.

One of the non-lethal deterrents they’re currently testing involves oil pipelines. When hung from the sides of boats and bumped, these eight-foot steel tubes are meant to make a sound that the killer whales actively avoid, as it reminds them that they are being scared away from an area where is spilled.

Another approach people can use when faced with killer whale boat contact, Giles said, is to stop the boat’s forward motion by turning off the engine or lowering the sails. This will cause the orcas to lose interest and swim away.

“Hopefully enough time goes by where they just don’t get that positive reinforcement of whatever they like about this interaction,” Giles said.

Gregg said he fears people will hate orcas if they don’t understand the reality of the situation.

“Hopefully people realize that they are not dangerous and that this behavior is most likely just play,” he said.