Two passengers were rescued from a yacht after an unknown number of killer whales sunk their boat on Sunday.
According to BBC, Spain’s maritime rescue services revealed that a group of orcas rammed a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar, ultimately causing it to sink in Moroccan waters.
Crew members alerted officials that the orcas had damaged the yacht around 9:00 local time on Sunday morning. An oil tanker then rescued the two passengers, leaving their yacht to sink without them.
BBC revealed that this isn’t a rare occurrence for orcas — especially in the Strait of Gibraltar, “one of the busiest waterways in the world, with approximately 300 ships crossing daily.”
“It is the latest in a series of orca rammings of vessels around the Strait of Gibraltar over the past four years,” the outlet reported. “Scientists are unsure about the exact causes of the behavior, but believe the highly intelligent mammals could be displaying ‘copycat’ or ‘playful’ behavior.”
Many social media users have been joking about the killer whale activity, even going as far as to praise them.
I guess Orca’s are smart enough to know who’s polluting their habitat! pic.twitter.com/VI7fMkvsIz
— Tamsyn Donner (@teresas30569940) May 14, 2024
An Uptick in Killer Whale Activity
In fact, these attacks have become so common that the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility created a list of recommendations for boaters who come across orcas in the area of the Gulf of Cádiz and the Strait of Gibraltar.
The ministry then outlined five pieces of instructions for boaters to follow, including avoiding certain waters, navigating toward the coast, and not carrying out behaviors that might harm the orcas.
“Avoid carrying out behaviors and using deterrent measures that may cause death, damage, annoyance or concern to cetaceans,” they wrote, advising boaters not to retaliate in the event of an encounter with the curious killer whales.