Orca attacks in the Mediterranean on the rise

An idyllic boat trip on the Mediterranean Sea turns into a horror trip for a Spanish family in a matter of seconds. Several orcas suddenly attacked the sailing ship and tore off a large piece of the two-meter-long rudder blade.

“You are dealing with fear.”
“I don’t know if these whales really just wanted to play or what, but when you’re attacked by an eight-meter-long beast weighing several tons, you’re scared,” the boat owner said. The family’s planned boat vacation ended abruptly, Spanish newspaper ‘El Mundo’ reported recently.

But the orca attacks didn’t stop there. The last major incident occurred on July 24 off the coast of Tarifa in the Strait of Gibraltar. The Bonhomme William sailboat immediately sent out a distress signal, but by the time Spanish emergency services arrived, it was already half submerged. The three occupants – two Britons and an Italian – were rescued in time. “The three rescued people have been brought to shore safely, the sailboat is sinking,” the Spanish maritime rescue service reported on X (formerly Twitter).

Seizures are a relatively new phenomenon
Such attacks – researchers prefer to call them interactions and assume that the orcas do not act with aggressive intentions – were unknown until a few years ago. The first incidents were reported in the pandemic year of 2020 and were often captured on video. You can hear the screams of surprised sailors: “Wow, what a huge animal!”, “You bastard!”

The orcas, which grow up to 10 metres long and weigh over five tonnes, are the largest species of dolphin and have been known to the general public since the film series ‘Free Willy’. They eat tuna, herring, seals, penguins and sea birds and also attack sharks, dolphins and other whales. But they only started targeting boats in 2020.

Several measures taken by Spanish authorities, such as banning small boats from certain parts of the sea and GPS trackers to locate orcas and warn captains, have had little success so far. According to the organization GT Atlantic Orca (GTAO), there have been 84 encounters off the coast of Spain and Portugal this year up to the end of June. Six boats were so badly damaged that they had to be towed away. The figures are slightly higher than the average for the same period from 2021 to 2023.

“Encounters” especially in the Strait of Gibraltar
“Most encounters continue to be recorded in or near the Strait of Gibraltar,” GTAO biologist Alfredo López reported this weekend. The area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean is popular with Iberian killer whales because one of their favorite foods, tuna, is abundant there.

The phenomenon is reminiscent of Frank Schätzing’s bestseller ‘The Swarm’, in which nature rebels against humanity. Spanish media report growing fear, especially among owners of luxury boats, who no longer go out to sea and often only enjoy their expensive vehicles in the marina. More and more sailors and fishermen in the region are demanding ‘solutions’ from the authorities and compensation for lost income.

The incidents have researchers puzzled. Although orcas are found worldwide, only animals in the Iberian region have shown this mysterious behavior so far. According to GTOA’s findings, of the 34 individuals recorded there, only 16 interact with the boats. As far as we know, they almost always do so in groups. There are three females and 13 young animals, says López.

Researchers puzzle: Boredom and tuna?
Why just these 16? Why only in the Strait of Gibraltar and partly in the western Mediterranean, off the coast of Portugal and further north in the Atlantic Ocean, off the northern coast of Spain and the west coast of France? Researchers admit that they do not yet have conclusive answers to these questions.

López has two theories: Either the highly intelligent animals have simply invented something new, similar to the orcas that balanced dead salmon on their heads in the North Pacific in the 1980s. “They are imitating each other in the group.” Or they are responding to a negative experience, such as getting caught in a fishing net or colliding with a boat.

More tuna due to fishing bans?
Boredom may also play a role. In a June study, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) suggested that killer whales were attacking boats because fishing bans meant there was an abundance of tuna. Because they were spending less time searching for food, they had more “free time” and were “playing” with the ships, it was said.

The many investigations and campaigns – including those by environmental activists – show how much this phenomenon occupies the minds of sailors, authorities, the media and researchers. The Spanish organization ‘Ecologistas en Acción’ started a month-long observation trip in July with a sailing ship and some 60 activists and researchers from different backgrounds to unravel the mystery.

Caring for Orcas: Endangered Species
Their priority, however, is not to worry about the sailors, but to care for the well-being of the orcas. These are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species and are threatened by climate change, water pollution and increasing shipping traffic and noise, especially in the Strait of Gibraltar, according to the organization.

All experts agree that animals should not be demonized. Headlines like “Orca Revolt” distort reality, López complains. He has the impression that the animals are increasingly hated by ship crews and also on the Internet. Video footage showed boat crews shooting at orcas with, among other things, emergency rockets.

To prevent escalation, the Spaniard refers to information on his organization’s website. Captains should inform themselves better, choose alternative routes, avoid night sailing and not stray too far from the coast.

Just a passing fad?
In the meantime, there is hope that the problem will go away on its own: some experts suspect that it is a temporary fad that could end suddenly, like the salmon balancing of the 1980s. López sees evidence of this: “Compared to 2023, the number of interactions is decreasing this year.