Last May, Rolling Stone published an in-depth article detailing how orcas—also known as killer whales—seem to be targeting sailing boats passing through the Strait of Gibraltar. When these Iberian orcas target a boat, they begin swimming into it, ramming their heads into its rudder until it capsizes. “With each crash,” Rolling Stone reporter Tomas Weber wrote, “the boat jolted into a new direction.”
Over the past few years, orca boat attacks have continued to make headlines (here’s an NPR article from 2023, for example). Marine biologists, wildlife enthusiasts, scientists, and government officials alike want to know why orca boat attacks have become frequent occurrences.
In this blog post, we’ll attempt to answer the question, “Why are orca pods attacking boats?” These attacks, after all, seem antithetical to the personalities we humans have assigned to orcas—curious, playful, and motherly. Even though they are formidable apex predators, Discover Magazine mentions that “there aren’t any documented cases of orcas killing humans in the wild.” Wild Orca corroborates this.
Some people, however, are inclined to speculate that this unusual behavior speaks to the vendettas orcas may have against humans — “whether for injuring them with boat propellers, or for picking their tuna hunting grounds clean, or for ruining the climate, or for capturing their brothers and sisters and imprisoning them in swimming pools,” Weber wrote — but his article makes clear that this issue isn’t entirely, well . . . black and white.
Searching for Meaning Behind Reoccurring Orca Boat Attacks
In Weber’s article for Rolling Stone, titled “The Mad Scientist and the Killer Whales,” he wrote that the Spanish government asked orca expert Renaud de Stephanis to “figure out a solution to the problem” in reference to these orca boat attacks, which were becoming increasingly common.
Interestingly, the orcas weren’t attacking superyachts or fishing boats; rather, they were trying to sink what Weber described as “humble craft, sailing boats of the kind you can buy for the cost of a cheap used car.”
Even the most experienced sailors have been traumatized by orca boat attacks. As Weber noted, “There is no reliable way to deter them, and sailors are completely at their mercy.” When it comes to orcas attacking boats, their sheer size and strength make it easy for them to compromise the structural integrity of the vessel.
Weber spent a week with de Stephanis in an effort to try to answer this thought-provoking question: “Are the orcas only having fun, or are the attacks vindictive?”
Giving Credit Where Credit is Due: The Orca Brain
Outside of speaking to de Stephanis, Weber interviewed numerous whale scientists who reiterated to him that they didn’t think the orcas attacking boats were operating with vendettas. “If the orcas do intend to destroy boats and harm people on them, they could do that easily by smashing holes in the hull — but they never do. They are obsessed only with the rudder,” Weber wrote.
Lori Marino, a neuroscientist, whale behavior expert, and founder and president of the Whale Sanctuary Project was quoted in Weber’s article; Marino mentioned that the brain of the killer whale is one of the most elaborate on the planet. Weber, then, proceeded to write, “An orca’s cerebral cortex is more convoluted, more intricately folded, than a human’s — which gives them an extraordinary ability to learn, remember, think, and feel. Killer whales lead a rich emotional life. They experience empathy, they mourn their dead, and they are probably smart enough to understand why an individual might want to harm another in vengeance — to impart a lesson, for example, or to discourage future attacks. Which makes it even more remarkable that, in the wild, orcas never do.”
Researcher after researcher insisted that orcas are not aggressive, and orcas attacking boats might very well be a form of play. Even a sailor named Augustin Drion, whose sailing boat was attacked in October 2022, “compares the whales to a powerful dog playing rough with a small child,” Weber wrote. “It feels scary, and it’s certainly dangerous — but to the dog, it’s just a game.”
Weber also turned to Hal Whitehead, co-author of The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins, who explained that “while land mammals can be territorial, territory isn’t really a thing in the sea. What looks like revenge against humans, Whitehead says, is a behavior that may be a kind of culture, a way this community of orcas now strengthens its group identity.”
Co-existing with Killer Whales
The orca boat attacks tend to occur in the deep waters of the Strait of Gibraltar, so de Stephanis suggested to government officials that sailors try to avoid attacks by altering their routes. Sailors listened to de Stephanis and began hugging the coast with the hope that their boat would remain intact.
Orcas attacking boats has become commonplace; from North Africa to Portugal to Spain, dozens of sailors can now say that they have experienced orca boat attacks firsthand. “The only sounds were the deep steady blows of orca breath, the clicks and whistles of killer whale language, the crunch of several tons of marine mammal,” Weber wrote, conveying just how frightening it is to be aboard a vessel being targeted by these powerful creatures.
Whether they use “illicit firecrackers,” “blast death metal on Bluetooth speakers” or “bash steel sticks against their hulls when orcas approach,” boat captains are coming up with ways to send a clear message to orcas: stay away. This is where the orca boat attacks issue gets complicated. In addition to asking the question, “Why are orca pods attacking boats?” we also need to be asking, “What’s the best and most effective way to stop the boat attacks, or prevent them from happening altogether, without causing any harm to these animals?”
In August 2024, The New York Times published an article about orca boat attacks. In it, reporter Lynsey Chutel mentioned that some captains have painted their hulls a different color, while others have tried to deter orca boat attacks by scattering sand into the ocean. “There’s also an app that tracks orca activity in the ocean, letting boats steer clear of pods,” Chutel wrote. These less aggressive approaches are ideal—especially because we humans don’t understand orcas any more than they understand us.
Empathizing with Iberian Orcas
At Harbor Breeze Cruises, we admire the ocean and all its inhabitants, including killer whales. Our captains, crew, and educators from the Aquarium of the Pacific sympathize for the sailors whose boats are attacked, but we also recognize the importance of not drawing any conclusions. At this point, the “why are orca pods attacking boats” question does not have a clear answer.
Published in August 2023, “OPEN LETTER regarding Iberian orcas and their interactions with boats” was signed by 30 scientists who urged people not to project narratives onto the Iberian orcas that are routinely targeting sailing boats. “In the absence of further evidence,” they wrote, “people should not assume they understand the animals’ motivations. The orca is an intelligent, socially complex species, and each population has its own culture—different vocalisations (known as dialects), prey preferences, hunting techniques, even different social structures and migratory behaviours.”
The open letter continues, “Science cannot yet explain why the Iberian orcas are doing this, although we repeat that it is more likely related to play/socialising than aggression. However, it is unfounded and potentially harmful to the animals to claim it is for revenge for past wrongs or to promote some other melodramatic storyline.
“When we are at sea, we are in the realm of marine life. We should not punish wildlife for being wild. We need to keep cool heads when wild animals exhibit novel behaviour and we must put greater effort into adapting our own actions and behaviour to the presence of wildlife. The survival of the species with which we share this planet depends on it.”
We couldn’t agree more with these sentiments and think it’s important for us humans not to judge the Iberian orcas attacking boats. We have reason to believe that they’re not acting with aggression, and if we do choose to believe that theory, then we are embracing a narrative that gives orcas the benefit of the doubt, which they very much deserve.
Join Us for a Cruise
If you’re interested in learning more about orcas—and would appreciate the opportunity to try to spot whales and other marine mammals in their natural habitat—we welcome you to join us for a cruise. Our experienced captains, highly trained crew, and knowledgeable Aquarium of the Pacific educators work together to provide all our guests an affordable, fun-filled adventure on the Pacific Ocean. Purchase your tickets for a whale-watching cruise on our website or, if you prefer, call us at 562-983-6880. Cruises depart daily!