Discovering whales sinking boats in unexpected places

Whales attacking and sinking boats in southwestern Europe have been spotted circling a ship in Spain, hundreds of miles away from where they are. Scientists cannot explain why.

Whales that have been attacking boats in southwestern Europe since 2020 were recently spotted circling a ship in Spain for the first time this year. The encounter was close, hundreds of miles from where they were. This suggests that the group is changing tactics, and scientists don't know why.

A group of whales has been stalking and attacking ships around the Iberian Peninsula since 2020. (Photo: Jackson Roberts).

Group of whales attack ships

The Iberian whale subpopulation (Orcinus orca) is a small group of about 40 individuals that lives off the coasts of Spain and Portugal, as well as in the Strait of Gibraltar - a narrow body of water between southern Spain and North Africa separates southern Spain and North Africa, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

Since 2020, whales in this group have approached and occasionally attacked vessels, sometimes causing serious damage to vessels and even sinking them. The most recent sinking occurred on October 31, 2023, but whales pushed at least three other boats to the seabed. However, no one was injured or killed.

On April 10, three of these whales were spotted repeatedly swimming near a large yacht off the coast of Malpica in Galicia, northern Spain. The trio of whales did not attack the ship, but local conservation group Orca Ibérica GTOA, which is closely monitoring the Iberian population, has warned shippers to use caution when passing through the area.

Spanish science news website Ciencia reported the encounter was surprising because whales typically don't venture far north until mid-to-late summer.

So far, whales have not attacked any boats. But López Fernandez believes it will be possible to start in the next few months. However, he said it is difficult to predict when and where these encounters will occur.

Why do whales attack boats?

Scientists still don't know exactly why these attacks begin . Some researchers believe that the first attacks may have been carried out by a lone female whale named "White Gladis" , who may have been pregnant when she began harassing the ships. But regardless of how it started, this behavior quickly spread within the group.

So far, at least 16 whales have attacked boats. Witnesses also claimed to have seen whales teaching other individuals how to attack boats, with an emphasis on attacking the ship's rudder.

As the number of attacks increased, ship owners began using artillery and even guns to scare away whales. However, scientists such as López Fernandez have called for restraint in action against whales because the population is at risk of extinction.