All right.
Scientists are scratching their heads
as to why orcas are attacking
and sinking boats
off the coast of southern Spain.
This video showing a killer whales
slamming into a sailboat,
damaging the rudder
and tearing a hole in the bottom.
Spanish authorities
a tow to the ship back to port.
Orca is have been sinking three
or have have sunk three boats earlier
this year.
And there have been other attacks
as well.
Spanish authorities are warning sailors
to immediately
leave the area
if they see any strange behavior.
I want to bring in now
killer whale researcher Dr.
Deborah Giles.
For more perspective on this.
And people don't call you Dr.
but instead Giles.
So Giles good to see you.
Hi. Thank you for having me.
Wonderful.
So there are a lot of theories out there
that in one case,
a female orca was traumatized
by a boat collision and began
taking it out on other ships.
And then fellow orcas kind of learned
how to follow suit on that.
Another theory is that, you know,
this simply is a game
that juvenile
orca is are playing for fun.
So what do you think is going on
I tend to be
more in the camp of the second second
there where the whales have picked up
this behavior.
They do learn from each other.
They are incredibly social animals.
They're smart and
can pick up behaviors quickly.
I'm in that camp of clay as a
as opposed to, say,
an aggressive thing, because I believe
given what we know about killer
whales in general,
if they were really
trying to take a boat down,
they would be hitting it harder.
They would be hitting it.
And I think in a more
concerted effort,
they're seems to be a lot of interest
in the rudder,
in the underside of the boat
that the whales are focusing on.
And the other thing that
really makes me feel
that it's more of a play
thing with the boat
is that when the boats paths
have become completely disabled
by sinking
something like that,
then people are transferred
to a smaller boat.
The whales leave.
They don't continue there,
their interaction with the second vessel.
And so
I do think that it's more of a placing
as opposed to an aggressive thing. Right.
So maybe
they really don't
want to interact with humans,
but these boats look fun
you know, from below the surface.
I mean, that sounds like what you're
you're saying
here, because,
you know,
just as you mentioned,
I mean, these are very powerful animals.
I mean, they
they are known to be very aggressive
and stealth, like.
Right when hunting.
And so perhaps
this unusual activity
has something to do with maybe the fact
that there are a whole lot more
of these vessels
that are in the waterways
where they happen
to be a swimming traversing
and then you get them together.
And while they think it's fun,
it's traumatizing
for for the voters, the vessels,
those people obviously,
I can't imagine
what it would be like to be on a boat
and be have that interaction.
And it seems like for some folks,
it's over the course of several hours,
it would be quite scary.
But again, I think that
given what we know about killer whales
in other parts, of the world,
this part of the world in particular,
you know,
we just not seeing
that kind of aggression,
even when the whales have been targeted
in some cases
by being shot out over decades.
And, you know, in some cases
during the capture era,
whales were captured.
There's one
famous incident where scientists,
in order to
document that we could actually tell
these whales
year after year
as individuals,
then they took a pocket knife.
One of them took a pocket knife and
carved out
two triangles
in the trailing edge of the dorsal fin.
Also, the southern resident
fish eating killer whales
back during the capture era,
every single one of them was rounded up
multiple times.
And these whales
saw their family members
being taken
right out of the out of the wild and
put into, you know, taken away.
And yet all of those incidents
never has led to any
of the whales in this region
attacking boats.
And so
and it just kind of speaks to the
to the playful nature
of the killer
that they have a curiosity streak.
And they they do learn from each other
and they do adopt
behaviors that spread
through the population
seemingly popping up out of nowhere
and often disappearing out of nowhere.
Just as quickly.
But those earlier scenarios,
that's so sad to hear that.
So well,
while the workers in this region are,
you know,
are considered endangered
and now that people feel like
they've spotted them
or there has been this record
number of interaction between the workers
and vessels this year, a record number.
Are you concerned now about their safety,
given that people, you know,
not only are they curious,
they don't really understand
or perhaps are misinterpreting
the intent of these orcas
I do.
You know,
I worry
about the people's safety
and I worry about the whale
safety as well.
I think that there are some some measures
that can be taken
to hopefully limit these encounters,
possibly having vessels,
which isn't
necessarily
the thing that
sailors want to do out there.
They're going in
more of a groups
of groups of boats traveling.
If they're trying to get from point
A to point B, that might be an option,
possibly having motorized vessel escorts.
Again, not really the
romantic quiet sail
trip that some people might
might be after.
But I do believe that it's
it's important to to to remember
that we're in their world where
we're in the marine realm.
They were here
long before
vessels were plying the waters
as a species. They were.
And so giving them the respect
that that they deserve
and giving them the space
whenever possible,
if an encounter starts to occur,
it seems like that
one of the things that people can do
is stop
that hasn't been effective for all cases,
as I understand.
But but that
it does seem to be the forward motion
and water
moving over the keel
that the whales are
particularly interested in.
And they may just be casting in that area
where the
you know,
the water is being sucked
along as the vessel is moving forward.
And so that's one thing people can do.
You know, one group I
did see banged on the hall of the boat
to maybe drive them away.
Things like that might might might help
if you're Asian.
I do feel badly for the people.
Obviously, it must be terrifying.
But also the lost property is part
part of it, too.
Sure. Well, hopefully no one gets hurt.
Not the people, not the whales.
All right, Giles.
Dr. Deborah Giles. Like Bond.
James Bond. I like that.
All right, Giles, thank you
so much.