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SVN Solovelanet Global
T
he curiosity of orcas towards sailboats is
nothing new. In recent months, several at-
tacks have been brought by these massi-
ve cetaceans against sailboats, for exam-
ple in front of the Atlantic coasts of Spain
where even the Coast Guard issued an orca alert, so
much so that there has been talk in the media, even
outside the sector, of a real 'orcas case'.
In particular, some British newspapers have mentio
-
ned "killer whales" "hunting for blood", treating the
news with the usual stereotypes that are too often
used about these animals. As usual, it is science that
can clarify these phenomena. Having examined the
recent cases of attacks by orcas against sailboats to
-
gether with other marine biologists, the orca expert
Ruth Esteban has given a concrete explanation.
"We can state that it is a game ritual" - said Esteban.
- We have observed how orcas almost always hit the
rudder, and this is no coincidence. It seems likely that
they realized that hitting the rudder causes the boat
to move, and this might excite and thrill them. This is
a show of strength that orcas perform against what
might look like another fish to them - continues the
expert. - In their behaviour there is no predatory inten
-
tion, otherwise their movements would be completely
different from what we have seen." So there are no
killer whales: there are just animals facing objects that
do not belong to their environment, such as boats, but
bear a certain resemblance to one of their kind.
The curiosity of orcas towards sailing boats is well
known and certainly not recent, given that episodes of
this kind have always occurred.
In this iusse of SVN Global, we interviewed Giorgio
Di Mola who over forty years ago experienced the
shipwreck of the Guia III rammed by an orca in the
middle of the Atlantic. You find the article here.
Here is why orcas
attack sailboats
W i l d a n i m a l s
Ruth Esteban, an expert on
orcas, analysed the recent
cases of attacks made by
these mammals against
sailboats and came to a
conclusion
by
Jean
Bonnet
