Wild Orca Pod Sinks Another Yacht Off the Coasts of Spain, Morocco

A wild orca pod had sunk another yacht and this time it occurred in the Strait of Gibraltar off the coasts of Spain and Morocco last week or late last month.

Reports over the weekend said the capsized vessel had a flagship under Poland. It is unclear why the herd of killer whales struck the Polish yacht but conflicting theories by marine animal experts based on similar attacks in the past may show the reason why.

Wild Orca Pod Attack

The marine mammals involved in the wild orca pod attack incident targeted the Polish vessel "Grazie Mamma II" for 45 minutes and sunk it near Morocco on October 31, according to a tour company. The recent event adds to the growing number of cases where killer whales seem to despise boats, a phenomenon that even scientists could not understand, the report adds.

Last week, the touring company Morskie Mile confirmed through a Facebook post that one if its yacht was attacked by a wild orca pod or "herk of oreks," adding the marine animals struck the boat's steering fin for 45 minutes which caused major damage and leakage.

The post adds that despite the efforts of crew members, maritime authorities, and others to bring the vessel toward the port, it sunk at the entrance of the Moroccan industrial port complex of Tanger-Med. The port is located opposite of Tarifa, Spain, along the Strait of Gibraltar.

Related Incidents

The killer whale attack on the Polish yacht is not new, especially in the context of has been going in the past few years involving the frenzied orcas. Just earlier this year, a group of orcas attacked and capsized vessels off the Iberian Peninsula. In addition, three ships also sunk due to reported coordinated orca attacks also in European waters.

Scientists were baffled by the destructive behavior shown by the ocean's apex predators, leading to several theories or unconfirmed explanations as to why the killer whales are acting in such a way, a mystery that has not occurred in the last decade.

Why are Orca Whales Attacking Boats?

In May 2023, researchers found that orcas prefer to attack the rudder of a boat, sometimes using their teeth to scrape its hull, leaving a boat unable to navigate.

In a study published in the journal Marine Mammal Science in June 2022, scientists recorded 49 incidents of orca-boat contact in 2020 alone, with most attacks involving catamarans or sailboats and some fishing boats and motorboats.

In recent years, wild orcas in the Atlantic Ocean have engaged in what is deemed by scientists as an unusual behavior; which involves attacking relatively small vessels and sinking them but with no reported human fatalities.

While one of the mentioned theories suggests that this is only an indication of playful behavior, while another theory indicates it is an act of revenge by a mysterious killer whale group.