Ship Captain Attacked by Orcas Again Says They Developed Their Strategy

Ship Captain Attacked by Orcas Again Says They Developed Their Strategy
Pandora Dewan 6/10/23 https://www.newsweek.com/ship-captain-attacked-killer-whales-developed-s...

A sailor who has been ambushed twice by the same pod of orcas says the killer whales are refining their strategy. This comes amid a concerning rise in orca attacks on boats along the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Europe from Africa.

Captain Dan Kriz is a delivery skipper with the company Reliance Yacht Management and has over 20 years of experience. He had his first orca encounter in 2020.

"I was sailing with my delivery crew through the Strait of Gibraltar delivering a yacht when I was surrounded with a pack of eight orcas, pushing the boat around for about an hour," Kriz told Newsweek. "We were one of the first boats experiencing this very unusual orcas' behavior."

The orcas caused significant damage to the ship's rudder, and Kriz and his crew had to be towed to the nearest marina in Barbate, Spain.

Three years later, on April 15, 2023, the orcas made their second appearance. "While delivering a catamaran for the Catamaran Guru company, the same pack of orcas appeared out of nowhere," Kriz said.

"We were about to cross shipping lines and turn south to Canary Islands when we felt like we got hit bad with a wave, but with the second hit, we realized that the same situation from 2020 was happening.

"My first reaction was, 'Please! Not again,'" Kriz added. He advised his crew to stay calm and avoid interacting with the orcas. "There is not much one can do," Kriz said. "They are very powerful and smart."

So smart, in fact, that they seem to have developed their strategy since Kriz's first encounter: "First time, we could hear them communicating under the boat," the captain said. "This time, they were quiet, and it didn't take them that long to destroy both rudders.

"Looks like they knew exactly what they are doing. They didn't touch anything else," Kriz added.

Not only was the attack more targeted, but it was also more efficient. "After about 15 minutes, they left, and we started motoring in the direction to Barbate," Kriz said. "Suddenly, one big adult orca started chasing us. In a couple of minutes, she was under the boat, and that was when we realized there was still a little piece of fiberglass left and she wanted to finish the job. After that, we didn't see them anymore."

Exactly why these orcas are targeting ship is unclear, but researchers have several theories. One is that a single, revenge-bent female has taught the others to attack ships after being injured by one in the past. But not everyone is convinced by this theory.

"They could crush the boat in a heartbeat if they wanted to," Sébastien Destremau, a captain who was involved in a similar attack on May 22, previously told Newsweek. "But they were not aggressive, they're not wanting to have a piece of you."

Instead, Destremau believes the orcas might be using our boats to teach their young how to hunt. "If I was a parent orca, I'm not going to touch my living stock, because my living stock is low, so why not train them on our boats?" Destremau said. "For them, the rudder looks like a fin! [It] moves like a fin, and you can play and push and grab it. And, as soon as the rudder is destroyed, they disappear."

This theory is consistent with Kriz's own experiences, where, both times, the orcas have exclusively targeted the ships' rudders. Unfortunately, stories about mother orcas taking their young out for a hunting lesson do not spread as quickly as fear over predatory revenge. As a result, many sailors are arming themselves with guns and other weapons to defend their ships.

"It's important to get a different message across," Destremau said.

Kriz is also strongly against causing any harm to these animals. "Bottom line is we are in their territory," he said.