Orcas increasing attacks on boats off the coast of Spain | Focus on Europe
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- Опубликовано: 3 сен 2022
- Orcas are frightening sailors and wreaking havoc off the coast of Spain. The killer whales are attacking boats with increasing frequency. Authorities have recorded hundreds of such attacks over the last two years.
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#Spain #orca #KillerWhales
I live on this coast, in a small town called Barbate, a few miles/kilometers east of Conil, & this is no doubt caused by the Orcas having had a free lunch for the last few years due to the illegal butchering & sale of Tuna meat onboard some of the boats catching Tuna. Not all Tuna boats are involved in this, but it is a growing issue, The cleaned carcasses are then thrown overboard, & these carcasses are huge, up to 2 meters long, they have been professionally filleted. I have been walking these beaches for 20 years, have come across these carcasses from Trafalgar to Atlantera, & it is ONLY within the last 3 to 4 years that I have seen this. It does not matter which beach you walk on, during the Almadraba (the official catching of Tuna) & where by law ALL I repeat ALL Tuna should be brought to shore, tested for metals & then sold, these cleaned carcasses are being washed up. I have reported this & it fell on deaf ears. The Orca have learned there is a free lunch lurking in the waves, then when fisherman or harpooner slips a dead fish onto the end of a hook, the Orca is going to think it is dinner time.
This is much more likely than this rather flimsy tale about some orca vendetta over an unsubstantiated harpooned baby orca.
They're highly adaptive hunters, who possibly associate boats with food and are working out how to get it from the boats.
@@josm1481 Absolutely, one baby Orca harpooned may make its Dam sick with grief, but that grief would not be magically passed through the supposed colony of Orcas who are bothering boats, I have also noted that all the Orcas doing this are alone, whereas Orcas usually swim in small groups. I wonder if there could be more than one baby Orca having died, but there is no doubt that Orcas are now associating us humans with supplying food. I also wonder if there is a growing issue with fishermen or even pleasure boats throwing chum (chopped dead fish) or waste overboard. A few years back my Daughter sailed out to sea to watch them, this was in Trafalgar where it is/was a business, & they were encouraged to throw food overboard in the hope it would draw them in.
@@bondsperfectblond I agree. Not only is one attack unlikely to bring about 'learned behaviour' but it's a rumour with no evidence to start with!
Far more likely that behaviour they've learnt is boats are a source of food and they're trying to work out how to get food off the boats.
@@josm1481 so why only sailing boats?
@@nomadhabit is it only sail boats? They are slower and don't have a sharp spinning thing, that might be it.
There might be another reason. I just don't buy the argument it's a vendetta because a man in the pub said one got harpooned, and feeding is the obvious option.
Orcas have adapted numerous feeding behaviours around the world from beaching themselves to get seals, knocking seals (and humans) off ice and more recently hunting great whites.
They could just be hunting the humans on the boat and it's sail boats that are slowest.
It should perhaps be no surprise that intelligent creatures like Orca may suddenly decide they've had enough and aren't going to take it anymore... That could be due to volume of boat traffic, overfishing and putting their food security at risk, pollution we create, the amount of audio noise that we produce underwater, physically endangering or injuring their young or adults... any number of things. They're clearly communicating something of great importance to them. 🐋
I believe your hypothesis is true. The propellers especially. I think they know that that's the part of the boat they injuries come from and sometimes death. There so much smarter than we think. Yes there saying get out of the water, you doing nothing but hurting the whole ecosystem.
Submarine communications come on grow a brain you are in ww3
I with the Creator and Mother Nature
CqP
Don't forget about all the underwear nuclear explosions
My theory is that they hear the cries of the captive orcas in Tenerife, which are held right on the coast in Loro Parque, within earshot of wild orcas.
Tenerife is 1000kms away from that pod.
The newest findings is,that some Orcas where shot at by fishermen in competition for food/fish. Orcas do not forget and identified boats as enemies. Heared this just two weeks ago from marine biologists at Horta Azoren Islands.
Then boaters should treat them like enemies too and eliminate the aggressive ones. The captains have every right to defend themselves.
We have been killing orcas for centuries. So far the only recorded human fatalities by orcas have been in captivity.
You really want to start counting the dead?
By all accounts, we are guests in their homes.
@@nonyafkinbznes1420 you don't get the point, orcas are super intelligent and sentient, it's cruel. We are depleting the oceans resources and your solution is to kill the orcas just trying to survive?
@@nonyafkinbznes1420 that’s like going to another country, killing somebody, then when they want revenge you kill more of them.
@@patientboat1979 As is right. Any vicious animal that harms a human should be immediately put down.
Sick of the noise, pollution & destruction of their environment...
They have a whole ocean
Not much noise from a sailboat.
No, the pods equate boat hulls for competition of food stocks.
@@LouisBackover makes sense, we do have a habit of stealing their dinner on an industrial scale. It's not like they can damage the supertrawlers..
@@jakel8627 we have a whole planet but look how humans have destroyed it. Your comment is beyond ignorant go educate yourself on what is happening to the "whole ocean". If the oceans die we die.
Orcas have culture and learned behavior that varies from pod to pod. Usually, these behaviors center around food and hunting. I would speculate that the reason for the attacks is because they've learned that some boats give them food after they bump the boat.
Or perhaps they have evolved to the point of going after the People on the boat.
There was a fishing boat/trawler in the vicinity that I had passed earlier that day. I believe the continental shelf where it drops off to the deep is a good place for prawns. I remember it was registered in Lowestoft UK but had Spanish crew. As another comment mentioned, they may have gotten used to having scraps thrown over to them and were perhaps giving me a nudge to toss the titbits over the side.
Yes, true!
@@JohnC-ur5ut Orcas can knock off seals from Icebergs creating powerfull waves just by swiming in a very calculated way... If they wanted to make a sailor fall from a boat they wouldn't just bump into it, they would find a way to work together and flip the entire boat.
@@jotape419 I disagree sailing yachts are not easily flipped because of the keel and ballast and will right themselves. If the whales breached out of the water and onto the decks now that could maybe sink the boat and do alot of damage.
One of the potential theories that I suggest might be happening is that Orcas are also beginning to realize that human beings give Safe Harbor to penguins and seals that are being chased by a pod. When a boat allows the penguin, seal or anything else onto the boat for safety, that message gets passed on from pod to pod and generation to generation. And eventually the Orcas begin realizing that humans and boats are interfering with their way of living. Their existence. Just a thought.
the fact you said our boats interfere IN general makes so much sense. They are highly intelligent and have figured it out. I think you are correct on this. Along with possible whaling happening. Never know but something happened. Somewhere and they know....Boats = BAD
Iberian penguins? Thats a new
@@Ozgur72 It could be anything. Could be sea turtles or other sea life local to the area. It's a learned behavior and you can find videos of this all over social media.
Are you on drugs?
That actually popped in my head too, but I don’t think that’s the reason.
This subpopulation of orcas is critically endangered. Their numbers are even lower than those of the Southern Residents. There was a great article written in the Guardian. A marine biologist who has observed them for years was shocked at this behavior. Her direct quote is - “For killer whales to take out a piece of a fiberglass rudder is crazy. I’ve seen these orcas grow from babies, I know their life stories.” An ecologist and oceanologist called The Gibraltar Strait “the worst place for orcas to live.” The orcas and fishermen have been 'at war' for years. Due to the shortage of prey, the orcas have been stealing tuna from the fishing lines. That, in turn, has angered the fishermen. The orcas are protected. That, however, isn't preventing the fishermen from protecting their catch by any means necessary. They stun the orcas with electric prods, hit them with lit petrol cans, and cut their dorsal fins.
heartbreaking
yes heartbreaking
I have no sympathy for these Satans of the seas. They delight in their cruelties. They sicken me.
We have no reservation whatsoever, about exterminating problem bears, coyotes, alligators, or sharks. Looks like it’s time to eliminate this problematic pod of orcas.
@@vijaysuryaaditya9860 Me too, but they just fisherman, maybe we should be a little tolerate to them
They don't want us taking their food.
They want some of that farm raised tunas.
We are their food if they can get us.
Orcas are highly intelligent, social animals. They may have encountered humans who harmed them, and they have learned to hit back. It may be about more than just food. Orcas have the ability to teach others and pass on behaviors. We should be wary about responding in a way that could escalate the situation or spread the behavior to new pods.
We hunted them mercilessly for thousands of years at the sea shore then in ships. Fair game for a long time.
@@1911Earthling what does it taste like.. have you ever tried it..?
I am a foodie enthusiast I just want to try a range of tastes and flavours..
I know dolphins was eaten throughout the world but media institutions forbidden me.. hmmmm..
Nature fights back in many ways.
and unfortunately that's how nature winds up getting itself killed.
Orcas have good communication skills and can learn, "take out" a few of them and word will get around, "don't **ck with boats, boats have harpoon, harpoons hurts."
@@RickMentore, maybe you should take a swim in the sea with the Orcas. Possibly even go one on one with them. I’m positive your failure will make the world a better place.
@@jmos96 Humans has the right to defend themselves! If a boat is being attacked by animals, said animals should be delt with! Orcas should be protected as long as they do not endanger humans. You should befriend them, go one on with them, since you reasoned its OK for them to attack humans, without consequences!
@@RickMentore that attitude is very selfish and full of ignorance. The seas are their territory, we are or should be just visitors. We need to respect their environment and allow them to survive and thrive. It is not necessary for our survival to be gorging ourselves with the food they need at their expense. We would not be here if we were not for the perfect balance of the oceans ecosystem. A lot of people realize this but too many people don't.
I've been following reports of Orca encounters since the 1980's, and there's something different about these reports in recent years. In the past, almost all seemed to be about Orcas knocking off the paddles of Boat speed impellers, wh8ch to me equated with the noise in the water produced by spinners when fishing, which attract predator fish, and the speed paddle through Hull transducer having the same effect, which led me to think that Something Big and Nasty was likely in the area, willing to attack something the size of a yacht, thinking it was food ? I saw the body of a very large Whale from my yacht, just south of Rhode Island, the Local Coastguard was warning to watch out for, that was on my Course, and the Orcas knocking off those speed impellers, would silence those boats likely to remove the threat ? Must admit, my next boat won't have a through Hull speed impeller, I'll have a Transom Mount one that can be tilted up clear of the Water, Plus will Carry some Brightly Coloured Beach Balls and if an Orca Pod is close tonthe Boat, will throw them a Ball for them to play with, and cross my fingers. They do love playing a kind of Water Polo, but use Seals as Balls to throw around. 🤔
@Jorge J Could well be, Dolphin have echo location and likely other Species too, could be we're giving something terrible headaches or such ? 🤔🍻
Nice to see nature fighting back against its oppressors for a change. They keep going for boat rudders, they're smart and know if they diable a fin their prey will be greatly handicapped in it's movement.
if they were harpooned every time they do it, do you think they would have the intelligence to understand that it is better to stop their behaviour?
@@Casini1 maybe, or maybe they'd declare war on us and step up the attacks. Who knows?
There's a true story that took place a few centuries ago if I'm not mistaken, in one of the European countries, Norway, Denmark, etc. A settlement of fishermen for years had actually worked in cooperation with killer whales, a mutually beneficial arrangement in which the local pod of killers would assist the whalers in trapping whales, setting them up for the kill. In return the fishermen gave the killers the tongue of the whale, which they apparently savor.
One day a killer whale washed up on the shore, obviously dying. After a few days it was still alive, one of the fishermen took a gun and shot it to end it's suffering, however the rest of the pod was present and witnessed the act. From then on the whales ceased cooperating with the fishermen and never did again.
I've kayaked the inside passage in Alaska and British Columbia from Seattle, WA, AK to Skagway, AK twice. During those trips, I had Orcas pass by me several times and they seemed to keep their distance, but it was still an exciting experience. Same goes for the several Humpback whale encounters I had. I never paddled toward any of the animals I saw, but rather they came over to check me out. When I circumnavigated singlehanded via sailboat, I chose a 33' steel boat mostly as a precaution against collision with debris or a ship and not necessarily for protection against whales and other marine life. There is no doubt that a whale collision can stove in a fiberglass hull and it has happened.
Fishing quotas are much tougher on the pacific coasts in Canada and the US (one of the few areas where Europe is behind in regulation), plus there is a directive to stay away from orcas now by NOAA. The coast of Portugal and Spain is almost devoid of fish at this point after overfishing for 30 years unchecked. Add in Chinese vessels being permitted who are known to take every living being they can regardless of protection status, and it’s a recipe for disaster.
Darn, I wish you had a channel with videos of all that. Do you have a blog or anything with pictures or an account of the circumnavigation? Id like to read about it.
Sounds like an epic journey. I take my hat off to you sir!
I dropped a log in my undies
@@WojciechP915 same! I can’t get enough of this stuff ha
The ocean finally had enough of us !
I've had enough of us too.
Though. We own the ocean.
Did anyone notice the scoring running laterally across the one whales back? When we see this in Florida across the backs of manatees, it is typically an indication that the animal has had an unfriendly encounter with a boat rotor.
Propeller.
A small fishing boat was attacked as well on the northern coast of Morocco, which is only few kilometers away from the coasts of Spain. I find it very weird since I think Orcas never attack humans for no obvious reason as far as I know.
They realize how rapidly we are destroying their ecosystem.
They realized how Westerners got woke and try to push the limits like Russia.
@@archdruid5468 They are irrational beasts. They don't know nothing.
No - but they have been known to "play" with humans when confined in tanks, as in grabbing a leg & suddenly pulling people underwater for prolonged submersed play.
@@davidcabreonmunoz6258 Not all humans are irrational, relax.
I was rammed by an orca while sailing about 200 nautical miles south of the Irish coast in 1994. It was part of a pod of about 12 orcas that circled the boat before one broke off and struck the hull just below the waterline. I started the motor and quickly put distance between me and them. When I looked back, one of them had come vertically out of the water as if to see where I had gone. I believe this action is called "spy hopping"
Do you have radar? I'm thinking it might have something to do with that
Obviously you had offended the orca pod in some manner.
A common depth sounder uses a frequency of 50kHz, this could be what is annoying the Orca's and causing the attacks. In the, highly unlikely, event of an encounter try turning off the depth sounder....
The higher sensitivity range is reported to be from 15 to 60 kHz with the lower sensitivity ranging from 60 to 120 kHz....
Spying is really a suspicious act...... especially under the water line
........ What's fascinating we all have a demise lol...... enjoy your ride......
@@TUNEin2Bliss No radar, no depth sounder running as I was near the continental shelf where it drops off into the deep of the Atlantic. I had red antifouling paint and was becalmed at the time. My boat was a long keeled Cutlass 27. A friend of mine suggested that sharks/orcas only attack when they feel like it....🙂
More questions than answers. It seems to be a revenge attack.
They seem to have the memory of one of them being hurt and now they see a sailboat as a potential attacker.
Speculation. Just some more of it.
That's just speculation. You can't prove that.
very smart animals, that's why I'm sure they have a serious reason for these attacks, maybe it's even a fight for food, which is probably getting less and less, maybe they're smart enough to understand that ships are their competition
no its not ITS REPEATED and systematic ABUSE by the fishermens . inform yourself BETTER ...DW wont tell you the truth anyway
@@kukulroukul4698 how they abuse them,they play Finnish folk music or something, how can they abuse them when they are flying on the water like formula 1, the only thing they can do is shoot them with machine guns, come on, enlighten me, how do they abuse them,
Thanks for covering this topic DW.
It’s actually crazy they’re smart enough to know what part they can attack to disable the boat
Orcas can pass the mirror self recognition test and solve puzzels and learn based on association there most likely sentient
The fishermen have been at war with those orcas for more than a decade now and illigally harasing and causing injuries on then
Most likely the animals have asociated boats as a thread so are attackjng them the population is only 40 animals in the entire subspecies and they are known to be able to comunicate so i think that is the most likely theory
Something has triggered them. Remember, these animals are extremely highly intelligent animals. They do remember, they do pass down their knowledge from one generation to another. The harpooning statement from Spanish and Portuguese fishermen I have heard of before. It's not completely shocking they are acting like this towards boats.
It might be Orca's intergenerational trauma.
Your probebly right, I remember a Nature documentary called Wolves of Eden. The orcas and whalers had a symbiotic relationship but after an incident the relationship broke and the orcas left or something. Nothing to the extent of what's happening here though.
I guess they dont get anouth food anymore.
First they say orcas are so smart they don't mess with humans, now its orcas having inter-generational memory to hate humans. So which is it?
@@youtubeprofile9495 Yes, overfishing could definitely be a reason for this behaviour. We really need to totally reassess our fishing methods. 👍
They've probably been attacked by fishing boats, so they assume all boats are bad
orca revenge
Orcas are smarter than that. They know the difference. These Orcas have never learned that we can wipe them from existence. Most predatory animals know this. That's why they don't usually attack humans, and the ones that do get hunted down and killed. We are teaching them it's ok to attack boats because we aren't going to do anything about it. That is a very dangerous thing to do.
@@dundeeecrocboats fishing for tuna are not that big and a boat is a boat
When sailing in those waters you are 100% stepping into their territory so they are curious as to what that big floating thing is. Also to them it looks like a big dark shadow because of how the light makes things appear if your under water looking up.
Orcas are being extremely patient actually and holding back their frustrations
Rotors of boats might have killed an orca. And this are surely remembered by the orcas.
Nope
@@LouisBackover animal idoliser
Yes I bet that's what happened. Just like the documented cases where Sperm whales learnt to escape sail ships by swimming against the winds thus the sailors were unable to follow them.
@@chrisgrill6302 Rudders look like large Whale Flippers. Orcas can drown much larger Whales simply by biting off their Flippers. It might be training.
Good to see these creatures protecting their habitat.
From zero emission sailing boats? Ok bro
@@aightm8 the ocean is theirs, they can do what they want. Like when we cut down rainforests just for a few years of farming
@@s..a893 Except it's not. Because we're the apex predators in both the ocean and on land. If we wanted to wipe Orcas off the face of the earth it could be done within a decade
They specifically attacks sailboat that doesn't generate damage earth instead of power boats and big ships that uses fossil fuels and damage earth. I see, from this we can see that fossil fuel is a good thing and green energy is bad, even the orcas agrees to that. In conclusion, use power boats and big ships instead of environmentally friendly boats!
Put yourself at their mercy, and see if you keep that self-righteous attitude.
They are so smart knowing the dismantling the Rutter would stop the boat
Funny how the last guy thinks he can fight a pod of Orcas😂
I am pretty sure that's not a sailor's worst nightmare.
Whales can easily flip a boat on the right conditions, and they go down extremely quick if flipped
100 ft waves
I am the wondering if the orcas are responding to the sonar your boat sends out for the depth and in some cases forward looking sonar. I was in the navy and have seen whales beach themselves getting away from our sonar.
I would just like to add that, in general the transducer for the fish finder is usually installed on the rudder, or the hull of the vessel. Any thoughts?
@@stephaniefallas1262 if you're sailing in deep water off soundings would you have your depth transducer on?
🙁
@@brokenrecord3095 I would not. that dosen't mean that other sailors don,t. some are using fish finders some don't think to turn it off. also, i am not suggesting that is the cause just a suggestion.
military sonar is way more energy than anything produced by the sailboats.
the scenery is breathtaking! Gorgeous!!!
Experience was terrifying but yet they're still on the water
There are only about 40 Iberian orcas left! Protecting this endangered species is top priority. Indeed humans can eat less fish but orcas have no other food source!
so, attacking humans is probably not their smartest strategy. that will lead to their inevitable demise.
Yes, I am vegan and very proud of it!
@@daharos Not as long as some decent humans are left. The researcher is decent, the rest is just meh
@@daharos so just because an orca damages a boat that makes killing it justifiable? You can always make more boats but these orcas are endangered, to any person with an ounce of intelligence it’s clear which is more valuable
@@s..a893 Nobody has killed or wants to kill any orcas for damaging boats. This is not the Medieval Age.
I agree this kind of abnormal activity in marine animals usually follows the disruption of their prey species.
We can assume they're just operating on instinct, or we can keep in mind that cetaceans are extraordinarily smart animals.
A lot of people don't know this, but when sailors first started hunting sperm whales in the 19th century, they defended themselves like they did from killer whales. They'd put the calves in the middle, and try to use their tails to fend off the attackers. Obviously this was not a good strategy. This went on for about 2 years. Whale hunters killed a lot of sperm whales. But then, all of a sudden, in a single year, in EVERY ocean, sailors could barely catch a sperm whale. They had figured out that they could swim upwind from the sailing ships and outrun them. And then they communicated that to ALL the other sperm whales in all the oceans.
For 2 years, they were killing them and then all of a sudden it stopped. And it remained that way until the invention of the steam ship.
Perhaps we've done something to piss them off. I certainly wouldn't rule it out. Killer whales are smarter than sperm whales. They're probably the smartest animal in the ocean. Some killer whales have even learned to communicate with bottlenose dolphins.
Anyway, just saying. Assuming that it's just some animal acting on instinct might really be underestimating what's going on.
@@petedavis7970 Hi, Thankyou for this fabulous piece of history, who could imagine there would come times when the outrageous behavior of humans would force animals into changing millennia of behaviour
I've never seen a skinny killer whale they even eat great white sharks. Their pray species is anything that swims.
@@gordon985 there are many subspecies of orcas, which are all highly specialised in what they hunt. So, it is the opposite of what you say. orcas in BC, Canada, are literally starving because they only feed on one kind of salmon. the iberian orca feeds on tuna - nothing else.
@@michaelaltenhenne4719 and sailboat rudders
It’s probably the same Few Orcas. They most likely witnessed something traumatic that was boat related.
@@jorgej8855unfortunatly yes there is a lot of evidence of fishermen harassing the orcas now the orcas associate boats as danger and we bkame the animals for that it is sad 😊
It is not the same group of orcas. There seems to be three regions where this is happening. The prevalent theory is that the sonic emissions from depth transducers are an irritant to them. They destroy rudders as it is the only part of a boat they can bite off.
I’ve been having this same problem on flathead lake, thought I was the only one
No one believes that
Is vengeance, they're smart and they comunicate with each other more effectively and in high level than expected
They should eliminate all these bloody boats from the sea, human kind deserve this and more.
Putting aside the cause of the interaction, biting at or bumping up against the rudder makes sense to me. Orcas are simply focusing in on the ‘tail’ knowing that damaging or losing the ‘tail’ damages or stops mobility of the boat - which is what they are ultimately interested in.
They could easily break them. They are just toying with it.
Then they would collectively bump the boat to get the "food items" in the water.
I was thinking they register the boat as another whale type animal. They see the sails and my think "dorsal fin" and the rutter as a tail
Yeah I noticed it was fixated on the keel and rudder.
@@atrocious_pr0xy
Exactly what I was thinking too !!
This was a great piece on what's the opinion is from the sailers perspective. Yet, from my recent interview with Mónica González with Orca Ibérica GTOA sailers are not sending them the interaction data & departments across borders are not communicating with one another effectively. Meanwhile, the Spanish government is putting one policy in place telling sailers to run while Portugal is saying it should be another by turning off all equipment. Everyone is just frustrated & there will be no solutions if everyone is not working in conjunction with eachother. My chat with Mónica will be released soon on the Orca Group Series hosted by RUclips.
The old man saying he would kill the orca. I'd really love to see him try 😂 👌
Imagine you are at home and some people come in and steal your food, and then such people demand their government protect them from you while they steal your food and chill at your house lmaoo
By your logic, humans would have been dead long ago for lack of food
Learn to think
The story of modern Israel
@@TeddyKrimsony Boom Drop that mic!
There’s only one law in nature! Survival for the fittest
There is a pair of Orcas in the waters near South Africa.
It is notable for attacking great white sharks but only taking the liver (and sometimes the heart, but that is close by the liver). Since around 2017.
And I think I remember a story about a toothless whale that would interfere with shark attacks, even to protect other species. Like swimming kilometers. Like it really, _really_ held a personal grudge against sharks.
My be would be that a claf was hurt or killed when a rudder hit it. And the parents want to make the ocean "kids safe" from that danger.
I had heard that great white sharks haven't been as prevalent there in recent years. I wonder if there's a correlation.
Very sensible answer
Nobody cares about Africa.
@@gcrauwels941 Sharks give orcas a wide berth, but insinuating that a couple pods (shark liver specific noms are widespread) of orcas kill off that many great whites is a stretch I reckon. There have been more sightings along the Cali coastline, according to the dronefootage from TheMalibuArtist or something along those lines.
I’d say probably not,there’s another explanation.
Could it be the electronic signatures emitting from the depth finder transducer? I’ve heard from West Coast fishermen that a lone Orca known as “Luna” was doing the same to commercial fishing boats in Nootka Sound BC until it got struck by a tugboat prop? Smaller vessels with no such navigation or depth electronics were completely left alone?
Then again, the Orca could’ve been having a go at his competition for food as well, or was just used to being fed by people? Who knows for certain, they’re incredibly complex creatures?
They may be just playing and for some reason the orcas find this activity hilariously entertaining.
We can’t forget; We’re in their habitat. I’ll have beef with sailboats too 🤷🏾♂️
I have sailed a 30 ft sailboat without a rudder. It is difficult, requiring communication and coordinated crew work. The trick is to shorten sail and achieve an equilibrium between the main and jib. Trimming the jib turns the boat away from the wind, trimming the main causes the boat to head up into the wind. These drills should be practiced when no emergency exists.
I've raced for many years... the fella on the main sheet and traveller steers the boat
@@sillyoldbastard3280 on my boat the main sheet wont steer the boat much and we dont have travelers. Boat specific I think is the answer.
I don’t think this would be happening if people in boats weren’t hurting the Orcas. Someone out there started this and the Orcas getting payback.
They learned very fast and communicate this behavior...
theres been a massive specific interest in fishing orcas feeding waters. I imagine through living off the scraps off the nets connected to the boats that the fishman use. I imagine its some psychological damage to the orca and its saying 'please go away!'. sees the boat as a threat. we don't live alongside one another, fish, species anymore.
Overfishing
Spain should be held accountable on how they treat animals!!!
yes
'' the scientists arent doing enough for them '' :)))
They are sick of us trashing their ocean/home, deafening them with marine craft sounds. They are sick of us capturing them for entertainment purposes and I don't blame them!
FORTY LEFT!? 40...
what kind of world am I bringing my daughter into, this is maddening and heartbreaking.
An easy solution would be to outfit sailboats with hydrophones. In case of an attack like this, the sailor could then activate the hydrophone, producing an uncomfortable frequency to which the orca will not want to remain in proximity. The boat remains safe. The orca remain unharmed. Everyone's happy.
or it just pisses it off even more and they go for the hydrophone lol
Or just stay out of their territory. Humans need to respect nature.
@@Rexini_Kobalt Doesn't work that way. Submarines all over the world have been known to devastate whole populations of dolphins and whales trying to escape the hugely powerful sonar emissions the subs use to navigate. A hydrophone is significantly less powerful, but has the same effect. It's repellent. And orcas don't have an ego to bruise, so getting "pissed off" isn't really a thing.
@@Dee-ye2dk No, sorry, human beings are part of nature, too. Planet earth is as much ours as everything else that lives here. So, staying out of every body of water on earth because there might be an orca in it is more than a little ridiculous. We definitely need to stop all of the things we are ACTUALLY doing to harm the oceans, dumping waste and sewage into the sea, plastics, long-line trawlers and indiscriminate fishing that kills everything in it's path. Sailing in a boat is not one of those things. Finding a way to deter the orcas from destroying the boat and potentially or actually endangering the people onboard, without harming the orcas, would be the goal. Coexistence. Not just stay out of the sea altogether.
@@meadmaker4525 sir nothing is natural about a half plastic boat with GPS and electronics. If we’re apart of nature give them an even playing field. Go out there in a wooden boat and have at it. No electronics
I am curious as to which type boats are attacked. Are full keeled sailboats on the menu or just those with spade rudders or even those with rudders on skegs. What about multi-hulled boats? I read somewhere the Spanish Coast Guard warned any vessel under 15m (50ft) to stay away from their coast from France all the way to Gibraltar. I wonder if anyone has made a list of the types of boats that are attacked to find out which length, rudder types and ect are on the menu.
I also wonder if anyone has had the wherewithal to ask what these boat owners were doing, where they pouring chum into the sea? or had they thrown rubbish overboard?, I love the Spanish, but do not doubt for a moment that they throw trash overboard, I find enough of it on the shores...apologies in advance to those who do not ")
If it's a menu, why aren't the windsurfers and PWCs served up as appetizers?
@@bondsperfectblond You don't love us spaniards, it's just enough and your obligation to respect us. Just saying we spaniards are about 45 millions of us and over 70 million foreigners visit our beaches every year. Lots of ships are sailing off Atlantic Spain and many of them are foreigners, I'm just remembering a french boat with a family that had to receive assistance from spanish rescue Service about two weeks ago and they were landed in Galicia, NO Spain, their boat rudder was KO. About the boats attacked, they always are sail ships, even that many sail ships have engines they are attacked when they are sailing only with the sails and the Orcas seem to have a thing with the rudder. They say the attackers are a pack of young orcas, like teens.
@@bondsperfectblond
This has been well documented in the sailing community of late. The bay of Biscay is a major transit route for sailing vessels of all European nations and beyond. The interview may have featured a Spaniard, as well as British, but this isn't a Spanish issue, it's a bay of Biscay one.
Spade rudders are taking the most damage certainly. I have a 32' full keel steel cutter and have wondered how I would fare there. Perhaps I'll find out in the coming years, but they're not getting my rudder off without a gas axe 😂
I think dropping a water resistant fire cracker in the water would scare them off.
I'm having a hard time picturing how orcas could flip their boat around 180 degrees, quickly, by the sounds of it, without the boat flipping over and sinking.
They prefer to call them "encounters",and avoid using triggering langauge with words such as "attack".
Orca have feelings too guys! -Scientist Guy
😅 Political correctness to the max!
Wimpy language. Like the Orcas will be offended if we say they are attacking 🙄
I've not heard of this happening in the Pacific NW. Perhaps the Atlantic Orca have just found a new game to play?? Not fun for sailors but it might be a hoot for the Orca.
Possibilities are the sound from the boats or grudge from past experiences.. the large container ships too big but if they could they would attack.
Seems like their pods might have had traumatic experiences with sail boats. I’m thinking that orcas that have been captured and sold to aquariums came from pods in the ocean. They are very social creatures. They remember their children being taken from them
There are currently 50 killer whales live in captivity globally and about fifty thousand of them estimated to be out in the wild. This theory doesn't make sense to me, but I think that overfishing, or them seeing podmates getting 'whacked' by rutters and having it out for boats makes more sense to me.
You can see the many scars on the orcas from propeller hits. The animals are stressed by pollution and climate abuse.
ur moms stressed from climate abuse...
Rarely is the propeller used on a sailboat, mostly in marina and channels where no orcas visit.
It has nothing to do with climate. They’ve lived through dramatic natural climate changes for millions of years.
Their high intelligence notwithstanding, how in the world could an orca associate humans with climate change?
0:18 No! An Orca can not capsize a sailing yacht. Damage yes, even very rare cases where the yacht sank after ramming are known, but not capsizing.
They can beak the rudder.
It can if it damages the dagger board.
There was a famous case of a pod ramming and capsizing a family's sailing vessel in the middle of the ocean, several decades ago. They had to abandon ship and survive in a life raft until they were rescued.
Maybe it’s not revenge but when a sailboat sunk, one picked off a survivor or deceased and “ learned” that humans don’t taste bad to them.
They got wind of cow tipping and it was like,
"Oh yeah?
Hold my salmon!"
Orcas are highly intelligent and communicative. When boating, take some large pieces of fish as a peace offering. When orcas have encountered divers they have been documented offering some of their food. Clearly it’s a sign they understand as “we come in peace”
Or a spear gun so you can tell them to get lost in no uncertain terms.
@@somethinglikethat2176 intelligent beings don’t run from what they fear. They plan it’s destruction.
@@somethinglikethat2176 then you better be ready to have fun being incarcerated for killing a protected species.
So they can associate boats with food and attack them????
@@mabutoo Yeah, from dolphin heaven.
Who can blame them? They're highly intelligent and furious with how humans are destroying the planet.
- Yeah right. They know whats happening on the land. How is that so?
Ummmm...no. Let's not anthropomorphize them, shall we? They're intelligent, but nowhere near THAT intelligent. They're responding to the environment in which they live. Sailboats, when viewed from underneath, look not unlike the whales these orcas feed upon, with modern rudders increasingly resembling fins. When attacking whales as prey, orcas will often take chunks out of its fins to disable it, before ramming and pummeling it into submission, and then finally drowning it. Once they get close enough to the sailboat, the orcas will realize it's not a whale, but will likely continue the attack...and it is an attack...anyway, whether as a practice run to teach other orca how it's done, or out of frustration. Whatever the case, orcas are not "angry" at the state of the planet and certainly don't subscribe to any climate change agenda. To suggest otherwise is simply idiotic.
Yet they support Leonardo DiCaprio and his private jets.
Even Orcas can be fooled ?
Restrict vessels for a few years to settle down. Orcas deserve a peaceful home environment
It’s like the movie Avatar “Eywa heard” and I kind of think the reason this is happening is because they are know that the lack of food in the ocean is down to boats and are taking revenge
What do orcas have against sailboats? Their dorsal fins, if not the entire body...
Surely you jest
Orca's are smart and know that humans are no good!
You talked to them did you?
AllState KGBCyberSecurity-Service 👁with 👁 a smile 😅: I have swam with dolphins but didn't like the experience. It was in Cuba and in a tank and not in a lagoon or the ocean but a giant man-made restrictive tank. Orca's are the largest of the dolphin family and are highly intelligent unlike you. I believe they can smell a stinker like you from over a mile away. 1.5 kilometres if you are Russian.
@@TheBlackB0X if you harpoon me and i cant clearly see your chimp like face and two hands handling that harpoon... MAYBE i need to be a genius orca ?
@@kukulroukul4698 So you live in the water?
It sounds awfully similar to tiger sharks attacking humans because we've mass fished/disrupted their environment so much that they just turn on us. I think regardless of what the cause really is (because yes they are extremely intelligent and would probably remember if bad stuff happened to them), we could at least start by cutting down on our mass fishing anyway, and change our fishing techniques anyway.
I don't think it would be bad if all fishes weren't always at our disposal to buy. It's not like we're repopulating oceans either, like we do with cattle. We really are spoiled.
Scientists: We don't know why
The public: There are many reasons
from my experience there are very few people here that respect the rules of interactions with marine life for example tourist boats that get way to close with dolphin they even put their hands out trying to touch the, fisherman that don't respect laws and use forbidden equipment and caught protected species so its possible that some orca got injured and consider how intelligent these animals are they started targeting boats that they consider a risk to their pods but this is seems less likely since they don't seem to be that aggressive what might have happen is that some boats gave them food and now they see it as a way to get a free dinner
it’s just a problem near portugal though, nowhere else
But usually when they wanna signal they want free food from humans they come up out the water with their mouths open, signaling they want food so I don’t think it’s a free food thing maybe more of a I see the boats as a threat against their food supply and them from humans fishing and catching what they eat so much that they leave much of nothing for them to survive off of and the blades on the boats could be noise interference and dangers to them and their calf
hahaha! Even the animals are: "Eat the rich!"
Smart orcas defending their home from noise pollution, regular pollution, and food competition,not to mention all the animals hurt by people having fun some of them have a lot of scars
These orcas must see the boats as competition for food. It’s perhaps more surprising that the realization isn’t more widespread.
They might be slow thinking but seems they finally figuren out who the enemy is
The rudder in the video looks like a dorsal fin of a shark 🦈, perhaps that’s why their fixation is on rudders.
They may have been trained to do this by the military to stop sail boats entering specific areas. It seems strange how they focus on the rudder which is the Achilles heel of a sail boat, guaranteed to halt the travel and force them to be recovered to shore.
Take that tinfoil hat off buddy. Besides the fact that this a baseless conspiracy, already know orcas don’t like being forced to do anything due to years of sea world torture 😂
😂😂🤣😂😂
Orca: It's a prank! It's a prank!
Orcas have been known to attack whales much larger than them and seemingly harass them for no apparent reason. Scientist at first believed they were hunting, however after further studies the orcas showed no interest in actually eating the whales. Orcas have also been known to attack and torture seals, thrashing them around like toys and end up not eating them. Scientists are still unsure why they do this, but ultimately they’ve come to the conclusion that.. “It’s fun.” Orcas are very intelligent and harassing and killing other creatures for pleasure is not uncommon in highly intelligent animals. They also might be using the boats to teach their young ones how to hunt by using the boat as some sort of learning tool representing a large animal. These are just theories however and there’s no way to know for certain why they’re doing this.
Take a swim. If they kill you, then they hate people
So they are just big annoying bullies. Interesting.
@@somerandomguy000 Not all of this is true and is still rare. They kill some whales just to eat their tongue. Killing for pleasure is even a sign for intelligent animals.
Its only this pod of Orcas. Its not common in other parts of the world. They also attack similar boats. Some Orca Specialists do actually think, that fishermen hurt one of the orcas and thats why they attack the boats. Fishermen in this region had been seen shooting at the animals years ago.
@@lasferta What did I say that was not true?
Sounds like they think the rudder is a fin of some other animal. They might be trying to protect their territory.
100%
They’re way too intelligent to mistake boats for fish. Definitely they’re reacting to over fishing though. It’s likely they under the importance of the rudder and it is the only thing small enough for them to damage.
they're learning. imagine having your yacht sank by orca that was bored.
no one gonna mention the dude that fell into the water at 4:15 lol
Saying that the whales are "fighting back" seems too anthropocentric, to me. I wouldn't rule it out. But their special attention to the rudder has me thinking, "Maybe they're just curious". Maybe one of them was clever enough to notice that the rudder controls the ship and they are passing this knowledge around by demonstration.
You may be under estimating the orcas
Orcas quite have human level intelligence, literally. Close family groups (prob closer than humans actually - kids pretty much never leave) & languages matching ours in complexity. A species like this, especially a pod now endangered Bc of humans, is capable of revenge.
My educated guess is at the very least, they see the boats as major threats/competition for food - defending territory. (Evidence: one whale in this vid attacking the rudder has boat scars on her back. Food: humans & orcas here are both targeting the same species of fish).
@@THISDICFOO I'm sure I *am* underestimating them. But I think "vengeful" or "territorial" would be an even *further* underestimation than "curious and ambivalent".
Imagine a society of beings who (1) like to experiment, (2) care nothing for human feelings, and (3) are driven purely by the thrill of discovery. That is terrifying on "War with the Newts" level!
Ppl use the term anthropomorphic way too much. Animals do have feelings and think especially these intelligent animals
@@realtalk5329 Good Point! I said anthropocentric, not anthropomorphic, but maybe that is confusing some people so let me try to be more clear: I am not suggesting that orcas are *incapable* of anger or reciprocation. I am suggesting that the whales might not be targeting humans on *purpose*. They might not care at all about humans. It seems possible to me that they are conducting experiments (as intelligent mammals sometimes do) with nary a thought for the terrified passengers.
Food competition with us humans respectively the lokal fisherman. This orca pack on the coast of spain is also pretty stressed by the ship traffic around Gibraltar. There is a research group that stated this already and made a rule book for lokal fisherman and other boat owners to avoid them.
Watched a story yesterday about a boat capsized in 1972 by orcas that left the family adrift on a dinghy for 38 days in the Pacific ocean before being rescued. That was over 50 years ago... perhaps this isn't a new phenomenon but one that people live to tell about, one that can be recorded with new technology.
perhaps a electrified rudder could be a solution to avoid the orcas, i mean a not so high voltage, just to scare when them bites the rudder. like electrief fences for catlle
Revenge of the ORCA's! I love it!
Try shutting off the sonar, the noise from the sonars on boats, especially sailboats, is driving the orcas crazy. I sail off the coast of British Columbia and I see a immediate difference in the behavior when I shut down the sonar, they seem to relax or I don't know it is hard to explain because they never go after the boats there but they behave far different as soon as you shut it down.
Perhaps sonars could be modified to create extra loud sound waves to drive off the aggressive ones?
@@nonyafkinbznes1420 well the way I think of it, if someone played loud noises in our ears constantly then we would far more aggressive too so I don't blame the whales it's man's doing.
Because from underwater, sailboats look like Great White Sharks.
Although other cases might be attacks... these ones seemed to be pretty calmly playing.
They are large powerful animals and their curious play and testing resulted in a mouthful of a small piece of rudder in this case.
They have such a clean record of not killing people, it would be a shame to avoidably tarnish their reputation with misunderstood stories.
If a calf does get rammed and angry Mum goes into full protect mode, this cannot be blamed as an unprovoked attack.
All creatures know their places.
All creatures know a common threat/enemy.
Except for One.
Humans?
@@aluimmumitat Close, I'm referring to those who have GMO food and mankind. They're also racist, war mongering and separated themselves from mankind and their creator. Very parasitic.
Know whom I'm speaking
Finally Animals are saying gtf off my turf. 💪
The same people that say "words are violence" are the same ones that say a whale attacking your boat is simply an "encounter".
They are very intelligent species. They learn adapt and develop strategies. My favourite creature.
From what I've seen and heard, the orcas only seem to be attacking sailboats, specifically the rudders....
I haven't heard of them attacking power boats..
Yes, though attacks have been on different boat profiles, including catamarans, so it may just be opportunistic. They may avoid motor boats or larger boats simply because they perceive them to be more dangerous, or because the other ships are so large no one's noticed the other attacks. It's hard to tell. The scientists have been too passive. They really should be using GPS trackers and submarines to monitor the behaviour of this population and get a better understanding of what they are doing.
@@mikicerise6250 Pretty sure they're just playing. A large boat looks like the whales that Orcas specialize in preying upon.
@@TomFranklinX they would have been doing this for years if that were the case.
@@ksc743 Not really, there are plenty of human sports that were invented just recently.
@@TomFranklinX are you equating orcas to developing a new "sport" like humans do? That's laughable. If you do your research you will see the orcas are clearly Attacking the boats, not playing with them, as witnessed by the boat owners first hand while you are surmising and anthropomorphising from your armchair.
The mamals associate the boat hulls for competition for food stocks. The narrator is wrong, they can't capsize these boats the keels are too heavy. The reason why they attack the rudder is because it's the only part of the hull that moves and its thin, so they bite at it. I'm an ocean passage sailor and have been following the situation closely for 2 years.
Have you considered the fact that they can jump out of the water? You don't think they can watch the rudders from below, and equate the movement with the movement of the boat?
These Orcas hail from 209 Stockton.
These fellas ran into the infamous Nate Diaz Orca pod.
Orcas are probably like "These losers can't get a real boat with a motor. Haha let's ram them".