Thirty killer whales viciously attacked a Dutch family’s yacht off the coast of Portugal, just weeks after a similar attack by orcas.
The incident occurred during a trip between Porto and Lisbon, with the killer whales “violently” attacking the ship early in the morning and causing visible damage, The Independent reported. Because the boat was full of water, the family barely managed to get ashore.
No one was injured, including the whale, and authorities took the vessel for inspection. Just a few weeks ago, a family with young children suffered a similar attack and was rescued by the Portuguese air force during the night.
The attacks occurred in September, when three orca attacks were reported in one week. According to the Independent, 13 people were rescued from the boats, one of which sank.
More of the same happened in July, when a pod of orcas attacked two ships and a pod of whales attacked another ship in Spain and Portugal.
Because such incidents occur frequently, experts encourage the public to remain vigilant and know what to do if they encounter an orca. Some suggestions include lowering sails and turning off the boat’s engines and other loud equipment, such as autopilots and echo sounders.
It is also recommended to stay in shallow water as it makes it harder for killer whales to ram boats.
The strange phenomenon has baffled scientists and boaters, who believe the whales were just egging each other on, with no apparent motive behind the collision other than play or exploration. However, these animals may also engage in aggressive behavior to defend their territory, protect their young, or in response to environmental stresses such as warming oceans and food shortages, Interesting Engineering reports.
“Some populations may also develop unusual and temporary behavioral ‘fads’ and other traits that do not appear to serve any obvious adaptive purpose,” Alex Zerbini, chief marine biologist and chair of the International Whaling Commission’s scientific committee, said in a statement to The Independent last year.
Although some of the behavior of orcas and whales can be explained by social adaptation, it is still concerning because it could endanger them and humans. If warming seawater due to climate change is to blame, then we must do all we can to conserve the resource and protect its ecosystem from further damage.
According to The Independent, in an interview with Portuguese news outlet Correio da Manhã, one member of the boating accident said: “We were sailing at night. Suddenly, we felt the boat move violently.”
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