Orca attacks yacht for the first time in the North Sea – behavior remains puzzling “Safety is a waste of time”: that’s how risky the submarine owner Rush is

Dutch physicist and sailor Wim Rutten sailed his ship from Lerwick in Scotland to Bergen in Norway. When he was fishing for mackerel, an orca suddenly appeared in the water in front of him – and he threw himself full force against the stern of Rutten’s seven-ton boat, as the “Guardian” reports.

The attack took place off the Shetland Islands:

The orca did not let go and attacked relentlessly, according to Rutten. He describes the attack in detail: The orca stayed behind the boat and lurked, it seems. Then the animal disappeared for a moment – ​​only to come back at high speed and ram the rear again. Rutten says:

Rutten could only speculate about the orca’s motives. He heard about the incidents around the Iberian Peninsula. There have been similar incidents recently.

The North Sea incident is now the first of its kind in the area. Meanwhile, scientists continue to puzzle over the animals’ new aggressive behavior. Alpha females have previously been observed in groups of killer whales interacting with ships. Some may have had bad experiences and are now passing on their aversion to younger animals.

It is surprising that there are now also aggressive orcas about 5000 kilometers away from the place where the attacks were regular. The whale expert Dr. Conor Ryan, who studies groups of killer whales off the coast of Scotland, thinks it’s entirely possible that behavior from the southern marine population is “transferring” to those communities to the north. Killer whales are considered to be highly intelligent and communicate at a high level with their peers.

Marine biologists continue to search for the exact cause of the aggressive behavior. A common theory is also that the behavior goes back to human influences. Possible causes are the further intensification of shipping, dwindling food sources, warming of the seas and the influence of man-made noise. (con)