Why are killer whales attacking boats off the coasts of Spain and Portugal?

A group of killer whales are attacking boats off the coasts of Spain and Portugal and it is learnt that these whales have attacked sailboats and many other boats in the last two months. According to reports, the killer whales have caused damage to many boats and injured a lot of people.

Most of boats that were attacked by killer whales were travelling along the Strait of Gibraltar to Galicia.

Talking to Guardian, a sailor named Victoria Morris saud  he felt the attack seemed “totally orchestrated”. Morris added that around nine killer whales surrounded his boat and kept ramming it for over an hour. Morris added that it seems that the whales were attempting to capsize the boat.

“The noise was really scary. They were ramming the keel, there was this horrible echo, I thought they could capsize the boat,” Morris said, adding, “And this deafening noise as they communicated, whistling to each other. It was so loud that we had to shout.”

The damaged caused by the killer whales to the boat was so heavy that it had to be towed away. The ship’s underside witnessed bite marks.

Researchers said that the whole development is quite confusing because orcas are not usually aggressive. They are intelliegent and these killer whales often follow boats but no such instances of group based aggressions have been noted.

Rocío Espada, a biologist at University of Seville told the Observer said, “I’ve seen these orcas grow from babies, I know their life stories, I’ve never seen or heard of attacks."

Espada remarked that it is likely that whales were stressed as the attack took place in area with heavy boat traffic.