Killer whales attacked another sailboat, this time off the northwest coast of Spain. The New York Times writesThe killer whales destroyed the sailboat's rudder, so the two-man Belgian crew stranded at Cape Finistere were eventually brought ashore by local rescue services.
There is still no consensus among researchers on whether dolphins attack ships for fun or specifically to harm them, but The New York Times reported on a new theory in its article about the latest case. The Spanish Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute found that the dolphins use boats to practice and perfect new hunting techniques.
According to a recent study, dolphins living off the coast of Spain have recently been preying on Atlantic bluefin tuna. Bluefin tuna, on the other hand, can grow up to 3 meters long and move so fast that the dolphins need regular training to be able to catch them. According to the theory, sailing ships are often the ideal size for training. The researchers also found that most young, educated killer whales chase sailing ships.
Whatever their intentions, they are a source of occasional concern for boaters sailing in the high-traffic waters around North Africa, Spain and Portugal. This is the umpteenth time that killer whales have attacked sailing vessels. In 2020, incidents that the press often calls attacks began, and since then the Grupo de Trabajo Orca Atlántica (GTOA, Atlantic Orca Working Group) has recorded nearly 700 cases.
In 2021, for example, the crew of a sailing vessel filmed dolphins breaking the rudder. Not all sailing vessels have escaped this: last November, the animals sank a boat, the fourth such case during GTOA monitoring. But not the last: in May, a 15-metre yacht was sunk by destructive killer whales, and the crew had to be rescued from the sinking vessel by helicopter.
As attacks have increased in recent years, there have been a number of tips in sailing circles on how to stop or at least deter dolphin attacks. Dolphins can be deterred, for example, by painting your boat a different color than usual, but there are also those who swear by blasting heavy metals or throwing sand. According to a New York Times article, there’s even an app that tracks killer whale activity in the ocean, allowing boaters to avoid them.
We've written more about the phenomenon and possible explanations for the attacks in this article.
