Killer whales, which have been terrorizing boats in southwestern Europe since 2020, were recently spotted around a ship in Spain for the first time this year. The close encounter, which took place hundreds of miles away from where the cetaceans are believed to be currently located, indicates that this group is changing its tactics – and scientists have no idea why.
The Iberian subpopulation of killer whales (Orcinus killer whale) is a small group of about 40 individuals living off the coast of Spain and Portugal, as well as in the Strait of Gibraltar – a narrow area of water between southern Spain and North Africa that separates the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
As of 2020, so are individuals from this group approaching and sometimes attacking boatssometimes causing serious damage to the ships and even sink them. The most recent sinking took place on October 31, 2023but at least the orcas steered three other boats to the bottom of the sea. However, no people were injured or killed.
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On April 10, three of these orcas were spotted swimming persistently near a large yacht off the coast of Malpica in Galicia, northern Spain, local news site This is reported by Diario de Pontevedra. The trio did not attack the ship, but the local conservation organization Orca Ibérica GTOA, which keeps a close eye on the Iberian subpopulation. warned boaters to “exercise caution when passing” the area.
The encounter was surprising because the orcas normally only migrate this far north in mid-summer, says the Spanish science news site gCiencia reported.
‘Theoretically they are in the Strait [of Gibraltar] in the spring and should reach the north [of Spain] at the end of summer” Alfredo Lopez Fernandez, a biologist at the University of Aveiro in Portugal and representative of the Atlantic Orca Working Group, told gCiencia in the translated article. “There is an absolute lack of knowledge” about why this is happening, he added.
Other killer whales have also been spotted further east along the Spanish coastline towards Biscay and further south in Portuguese waters in recent weeks, gCiencia reported. Normally, the orcas only enter these areas to follow tuna, their favorite prey. It is unclear whether the tuna arrived early this year.
So far the orcas have not attacked any boats. But López Fernandez thinks this could start within a few months. However, he says it is difficult to predict when and where these meetings will take place.
Scientists still don’t know exactly why these attacks started. Some researchers believe the first attacks may have been committed by a lone woman named ‘White Gladis’ may have been pregnant when she started harassing the boats. But however it started, the behavior quickly spread among the group.
So far, at least 16 different people have attacked boats. Eyewitnesses also claim to have seen killer whales teaching other individuals how to attack boats, with a emphasis on the rudders of attacking ships to immobilize them.
There is also a suggestion that the behavior may have spread beyond the population after an event boat in Scotland was attacked by another group in June 2023. However, it is impossible to prove that this attack was related to the others.
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As the number of attacks has increased, boat owners have started using fireworks and even guns to deter the orcas, gCiencia reported. However, scientists like López Fernandez have urged restraint because the subpopulation is “in danger of extinction.”
“We want to pass on real and truthful information,” López Fernandez said. “We’re not going to hide the fact that the orcas can touch the boats and sometimes break something, but we also have to be aware that what we have in front of us is not a monster.”
