August 8th a Norwegian skipper is also the victim of an orca attack while sailing off the coast of Brest (Finistère). The five cetaceans attack his rudder and force the navigator to make an emergency stop at a Brest shipyard.
In June, off the coast of Gibraltar (south of Spain), the Japanese racing boat Milai Around The World also saw its rudder destroyed by a group of killer whales, all captured by an underwater camera.
In July 2021, it was off Royan in Charente-Maritime that a sailboat was disturbed for about thirty minutes by an orca, the first in this area of the Atlantic.
Rare, until two years ago
Scientists are all the more intrigued because up until two years ago such interactions were extremely rare. “I only know of two, in 1972 and 1976,” says Sami Hassani, director of the Association for the Conservation of Marine Mammals and Birds in Brittany (Adm). Since then, nothing.
Until two years ago and this series of assaults off Spain, Portugal and France. According to the Atlantic Orca Working Group (GTOA), born to study these events, the interactions began in July 2020 in the Strait of Gibraltar. In total, the GTOA recorded 51 interactions in 2020 in Spain and Portugal and 185 in 2021, from Morocco to France, likely caused by at least three groups of killer whales. “You should know that killer whales can pass on certain behaviors to each other,” comments Aurélie Celerier, researcher in behavioral ecology and lecturer at the University of Montpellier II. This may partly explain why these interactions seem to spread.
Game or defense?
But why do these killer whales behave like this? There are several hypotheses. On TF1, cetologist and member of the Tursiops association Eric Demay estimated that these interactions could be “related to hunting teaching or just to play”. According to the GTOA, they could also be explained by the combination of several factors such as the pressures they face (rarity of prey, disturbance of boats, interaction with fishing).
“Or maybe one of them was hit by a sailboat and now they perceive it as a threat, imagine Sami Hassani who sees it as a defense mechanism. It may even be that the rudder of these sailing boats emits a frequency that annoys them ”, he still supposes. Because these attacks, which are not actual attacks, typically target sailboats, especially their rudders, but not the sailors themselves.
To be sure, it would be necessary to clearly identify the killer whales behind these more or less muscular assaults and have more information on the type of craft targeted. However, in many cases, boats that have only been slightly damaged are content to continue their journey without asking for rest, and gathering information is not easy.
stop the boat
I mean, for now we don’t know why these killer whales are attacking the boats. Especially since it is a rather sociable, playful, very intelligent and safe animal for humans. It is important to remember that, apart from some incidents in captivity, killer whales do not attack humans.
But their power can do great damage, even unintentionally. The GTOA has therefore implemented a security protocol to be followed in case of interaction. The first thing to do is to stop the boat by turning off the engine or lowering the sails. It is also recommended that you take your hands off the steering wheel or rudder, stay away from any part of the boat that could fall or turn abruptly, and wait for the killer whales to tire and depart.
