300 Attacks on Sailing Vessels: Has Corona Made Orcas So Aggressive? | news

Marbella (Spain) – For a moment, Werner Schaufelberger (72) and his crew thought something had crashed.

But the sailing boat “Champagne” pitched around the Black Sea without rocks, no rock and no buoy. Only the black shiny backs of three killer whales attack the boat.

The “Champagne” was sunk by orcas on a Swiss boat en route from Tenerife to Benalmadena off the southern coast of Spain. An extreme case, but no longer an isolated case: marine rescuers have recorded more than 300 orca attacks on sailing vessels since 2020.

Midnight attack The Orcas boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea

Sometimes whales bite the rudder, sometimes they keel and turn boats round and round. On at least three occasions, the animals managed to sink ships.

Incidents have been increasing since July 2020, always involving whales from the “Orca Iberica” ​​population: about 70 animals strong, native to the Atlantic from northern Morocco to northern Spain. They used to only occasionally attack tuna fishing boats, but are now targeting sailboats up to 15 meters long.

Experts are faced with a conundrum: what is there Orcas Did he do it so aggressively? One theory says: Corona is to blame!

“During the epidemic there were fewer sailors and fewer opportunities to meet. Overall, it was more relaxed for marine animals because there was more food and, among other things, fishing was strictly prohibited,” says biologist Ulrich Karlowski of the German Foundation for Marine Conservation. “The fact that animals are now retaliating against returning fishing boats for renewed reductions in fish stocks is an opportunity for increased interactions, but it doesn’t have to be.”

See also  Significant accumulation of accidents: One type of US military aircraft was not allowed to take off

Or are orcas annoyed by the noise? With Corona, it has calmed down in the seas too. Not a single boat, ship, tanker. The orcas enjoyed their habitat as peacefully as ever. Now there is noise pollution again.

All attacks were from populations of Iberian orcas

Photo: Image Alliance / All Canada Photos

Heik Zitowitz, specialist in the conservation of marine life at WWF Germany: “Whales and dolphins use very sensitive hearing and biosonar. They use it to orient themselves, communicate with each other, identify danger and search for food or mates. Chronic underwater noise stresses the animals and makes them sick. Because it’s loud, it’s hard for them to communicate with their peers. When voices are drowned out by ship engines, mother whales have trouble finding their young. The louder it is underwater, the harder it is to find food.

However, marine biologist Fabian Ritter (55) from the whale conservation organization WDC does not believe the theory that noise makes whales more aggressive: “Why would orcas go to boats that make less noise?” The theory of impossibility: “Animals are used to this noise from birth, the Strait of Gibraltar, for example, is very busy.”

Both biologists think another explanation is more likely: orcas like to play.

Ritter says that the first recorded attacks were “not fully developed yet.” “They’re young, they’re excited, they’ve got stupidity in their heads, it’s human beings like us. And then something took on a life of its own.

That means the orcas teach each other that sailboats are great toys.

See also  HIMARS Attack on Modern T-90M: Fire Blast Reportedly Destroys Russian Tank Company
assistants

The assistants tried in vain to pull the “champagne”. She sank in front of the harbor entrance

Photo: Cru Alboran Champagne

“Orgas are very intelligent,” says Karlowski. “Iberian orcas learn to anchor boats by sixteen to seventeen. They may have found it by accident and liked it. They pass this knowledge on to their children. So it is expected that these orca animals will always behave like this.

Bad news for sailors off the coast of Portugal and Spain.

What to do if you are attacked? Experts advise: turn off the engine and electronics, take off the sails, leave the rudder and move yourself. “Keep calm. And don’t resist violently. You can’t beat an orca,” says marine biologist Ritter.

Colleague Karlowski also advises: “The more boring the orcas find the situation, the more likely they are to move away again.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *