Killer Whales and Sailors: A Battle at Sea
For years, killer whales have been attacking and sometimes capsizing boats in the waters off Spain and Portugal. Now, sailors are working together to find a way to deter the orcas, and may have found a "game changer" solution – blasting thrash metal music.
GTOA, a group that researches killer whales in this region, including the Strait of Gibraltar where orcas sank a yacht in a 45-minute attack last month, has recorded hundreds of interactions between the species and boats in recent years. The number of interactions – when the whales fix their attention on a boat and either approach, observe or touch it – has increased over the past three years, the group found.
There were 52 interactions meeting over a five-month period in the region in 2020, the group found. Two years later, in 2022, there were 207 recorded interactions. There have been several documented instances.
In a Facebook group of more than 59,000 people, sailors are swapping ideas of the best methods to save themselves from experiencing such events. Many group members have shared their own encounters, with one person saying at one point, the whales were "putting their noses on the rudders and pushing."
"Any movement that makes that action uncomfortable for them will deter them," they said. "... I just waggled the helm pretty violently so they would not want to put their noses there. Worked instantly and they got bored quick!"
Earlier this week, one person sought advice as he prepared to cross from the Spanish city of Málaga to the country's Canary Islands. Sand, fireworks and loud horns were all suggested to keep away the whales, but one person had a suggestion he claimed was a sure-fire way to avoid an attack.
"When we had an interaction last year, I'm pretty sure that rattling the hull by playing full volume east European thrash metal, was the game changer," he said. "... They made three approaches and left after 5 mins without doing any damage.. which was 2 or 3 minutes into the music. Good luck."
Another sailor, Florian Rutsch, told The New York Times that he's had two encounters with orcas. In May, he tried putting sand in the water and also put the boat in full throttle to rush away, which he said worked. Then during his second encounter in November, Rutsch said he also tried music – a Spotify playlist called "Metal for Orcas" – that he played through an underwater speaker. In that instance, the music didn't work, he said, and the orcas ended up attacking his vessel's rudder. His crew had to be rescued by Spanish authorities.
"No one knows what works, what doesn't work," he told The Times.
While sailors are experimenting with various strategies to avoid encounters that could lead to their boats sinking, the Spanish government has implemented its own set of regulations regarding permissible actions. Interestingly, playing loud music appears to be prohibited.
According to GTOA, a set of rules known as Royal Decree 1727/2007 – which outlines protections for whales and other cetaceans – states that "no activity can be carried out that could kill, harm, or disturb the animals." Specifically, the group asserts that individuals encountering whales in Spanish waters are prohibited from intentionally making contact, throwing substances that could harm the animals, impeding their freedom of movement, separating them, or producing loud and high-pitched noises.
What is causing killer whales to attack boats?
The exact cause of the increase in orca attacks is still unknown. During the summer, wildlife conservationist and biologist Jeff Corwin stated in an interview with CBS News that it is "interesting behavior" that demonstrates the intelligence of these creatures.
"These are curious creatures, they're very intelligent creatures," he said. "...What we're seeing is adaptive behavior. We're learning about how they actually learn from their environment, and then take those skill sets and share them and teach them to other whales."
According to a marine biologist, the skills displayed by a pod of orcas in Spain could be a result of a single famous orca named White Gladis. The biologist suggests that the orcas may have learned these skills from her after an encounter. However, it is also possible that the orcas are engaging in some sort of play or game, or that their behavior is a response to a traumatic event they experienced.
The biologist also points out that there have been incidents of boats injuring or colliding with whales in the Mediterranean and off the coast of Spain. It is likely that White Gladis had a traumatic experience with a boat, learned from it, and now sees other whales as part of her team to survive in their pod. She may view boats as the enemy.
