As we were waiting for a weather window to open in the western Atlantic for our planned passage from Virginia to Antigua in the Caribbean, a news story of yet another attack on a yacht by a pod of orcas caught our eye. You can see the link to The Daily Mail’s report in Dock Talk below. The orca attacks off the coast of Portugal have been going on for a couple of years and it seems the whales are learning more about how to disable yachts at sea; this time, on November 1, it took them just 40 minutes to rip off the boat’s rudder and break a hole in the hull to sink the 40-foot sloop. The crew of four called an SOS and jumped into their life raft, which sounds equally problematical considering the aggressive mood of the pod. Luckily the crew was soon rescued and delivered safely to shore. So, what’s going on? Is this nature turning malevolent, like a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s movie The Birds now played by whales? Scientists who are part of the Atlantic Orca Working Group think this is not the case. They note that orcas are highly intelligent and have complex social systems. They are apex predators that also are caring parents, playful and tightly bonded to their family groups. And, outside of captivity, there are no recorded orca attacks on humans. The Portuguese orcas migrate to the coast to feed on tuna in summer and may see the fin keels and rudders of sailboats as competition in their feeding ground. Who knows? But, it seems wise to give the Portuguese coast a wide berth when transiting north and south. Here are two useful articles for more details.
Scientists Edge Closer to Understanding Why and
Where Orcas Attack Boats Killer Whale Attacks | How Often Do They Attack Humans?
