Just when you thought the orca whales had gotten it out of their system.
I don’t know about you, but I’ll simply never forget the summer of 2023. Why do I say that? Well, during that year, orca whales – all of the sudden – seemingly started to work together to harass, bump into, and even sink ships in the middle of the ocean. The scariest part about it all is that they’ve got the size and strength to do some real damage on their home turf (in the ocean).
Orcas, which are also referred to as “Killer Whales,” are the largest members of the dolphin family. Male Orcas can weigh upwards of 14,000 pounds and stretch over 32 feet, while their female counterparts usually weigh in around 10,000 pounds and measure around 27 feet. The whales are known to travel in “family pods” and often hunt in packs. We’ve seen plenty of videos where they’ve also worked in tandem to attack boats.
In this video, which was taken back on May 6, an orca was seen targeting a yacht that was traveling near the Strait of Gibraltar in Spain. The footage shows the orca bumping into the vessel repeatedly, and in an area that – for some reason – has been a hot spot for killer whale attacks in recent years.
The caption included in the social media post went into more detail about this particular incident, and also provided some hypothesizing by orca researchers as to why this type of killer whale activity continues to happen:
“This footage captured by Ilona Skorobogatova shows the orca following the yacht and repeatedly bumping into its side near Barbate, Spain. Skorobogatova said that the orca continued to attack the yacht even after they sped up. Later footage shows members of Sea Shepherd, an international nonprofit marine conservation organization, arriving on the scene.
Researchers hypothesize that the attacks might be a new ‘fad’ among the orca population in the area, or a reaction to a bad past experience involving a boat, according to Scientific American. Alfredo Lopez, an orca researcher at the Atlantic Orca Working Group, told Scientific American that the orca attacks near the Iberian Peninsula are part of a rare behavior that has only been detected in that part of the world.”
@abc7chicago An orca was seen repeatedly bumping into a yacht near the Strait of Gibraltar, an area known for orca attacks on marine vessels, on Tuesday, May 6. This footage captured by Ilona Skorobogatova shows the orca following the yacht and repeatedly bumping into its side near Barbate, Spain, on Tuesday. “Oh my God, it’s huge,” Skorobogatova could be heard saying. Skorobogatova said that the orca continued to attack the yacht even after they sped up. Later footage shows members of Sea Shepherd, an international nonprofit marine conservation organization, arriving on the scene. Researchers hypothesize that the attacks might be a new “fad” among the orca population in the area, or a reaction to a bad past experience involving a boat, according to Scientific American. Alfredo Lopez, an orca researcher at the Atlantic Orca Working Group, told Scientific American that the orca attacks near the Iberian Peninsula are part of a rare behavior that has only been detected in that part of the world. #news #orca #orcas #spain #ocean ♬ original sound – abc7chicago
2025 has already been quite the eventful year. The last thing the human race needed was to once again worry about orcas trying to sink boats out on the open sea. At least it mainly seems to be happening in Barbate, Spain area… hopefully none of you reading this have a vacation planned in that area.
If you do, DO NOT go on the boat tour. Or do whatever you want. I can’t control what you do… but don’t say I didn’t warn you. These orca whales seem like they are on a mission, and I’m going to choose to stay out of the orca-vs-boat battle entirely.
