Why would killer whales attack yachts in 21st-century Europe? is it revenge? Mark Carwardine takes a look at the evidence <\/p>
‘Killer whales are \u2018extremely ferocious\u2026 and will attack human beings at every opportunity\u2019. That\u2019s according to a 1973 US Navy manual. Sure enough, the recent spate of attacks on small boats in south-western Europe seems to justify such fears.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> If you were to believe the press and social media, we\u2019re in the midst of a \u2018killer whale<\/a> uprising\u2019. But claims about their murderous intent are blatantly untrue. The evidence doesn\u2019t stand up. Killer whales do attack, and sometimes kill, trainers in captivity (not surprisingly) but, unlike polar bears,<\/a> great white sharks<\/a> and many other top predators, they have never killed a person in the wild.\u00a0<\/p> So what\u2019s happening? Since May 2020, there have been more than 500 reported attacks on sailing boats, as well as some fishing boats, RIBs and motorboats. It began in the Strait of Gibraltar, but the number and range of incidents has rapidly increased in the years since. <\/p> The \u2018attack zone\u2019 now extends up the Atlantic coasts of Portugal, Spain<\/a> and France; and, in June, a yacht was ambushed off the coast of Shetland (the first incident recorded in northern waters). No-one has been harmed. The culprits are just a handful of whales, although others may be learning the behaviour.<\/p> Are the attacks triggered by a traumatic incident such as a collision with a boat or entanglement in fishing gear, as many claim? Or is it really an act of revenge for centuries of maltreatment and neglect? It\u2019s all pure speculation, of course, while theories in the press reveal a rather distorted view of the natural world, as we project our own prejudices onto wild animals.<\/p> Whales have been known to attack boats, under exceptional and life-threatening circumstances. The inspiration for Moby Dick<\/em> was a real-life sperm whale<\/a> that attacked, and sank, the whaling vessel Essex<\/em>, in 1820. Several decades later, gray whales<\/a> were dubbed \u2018devilfish\u2019 by Yankee whalers, for fighting back and smashing their boats to smithereens. But why would killer whales attack yachts in 21st-century Europe?\u00a0<\/p> A key piece of evidence is that they usually attack the boat rudders. Research with dummy rudders suggests that they are pushing them, rather than biting. Once a rudder breaks, the whales usually swim away. That doesn\u2019t sound like aggression to me. If they really wanted to, they could sink a small yacht in minutes. (Breaking a rudder could open a hole in the hull, of course, which might explain why three of the 500-plus boats sank.)<\/p> Equally, it\u2019s a big stretch to argue that these killer whales are holding a grudge. I wouldn\u2019t blame them, but it\u2019s highly unlikely they have malevolent intentions towards humans. Consider this: every single killer whale living off the coasts of Washington and Oregon in the 1960s and 1970s was captured at least once (most multiple times). \u2018Preferred\u2019 individuals \u2013 calves and adult males \u2013 were taken away by the captive industry for display in concrete tanks; other family members were set free. Yet it didn\u2019t spark an aggressive reaction. Not a single boat was attacked. Surely, if anything gave them reason to hate humans, it would be the trauma of being captured \u2013 not to mention the sight of their family members being driven away?<\/p> Whatever the reason, if the killer whales in this critically endangered sub-population continue to attack boats, it will make protecting them even harder (it won\u2019t be long before uninformed politicians start mumbling about something needing to be done).\u00a0<\/p> Personally, I think it\u2019s nothing worse than play. Boisterous play, yes, by animals weighing up to six tonnes, but nothing more sinister than that.\u00a0<\/p> People do revenge, animals do not.\u00a0<\/p> More by Mark Carwardine<\/strong><\/p> Mark Carwardine: we need to learn to live alongside dangerous animals<\/a><\/p>How many attacks have taken place?<\/h2>