Orcas Aren't Attacking Boats Because They're Aggressive, Scientists Say

Orcas interfering with boats off the coast of Spain and Portugal are not doing so out of aggression but because they are playing with dolphins.

Since 2020, there have been some 236 reported interactions between orcas, also known as killer whales, and boats off the Iberian Peninsula, according to Spanish News Today.

The encounters range from the whales simply approaching the boats, to actively interfering with it, and, on July 31, orcas sank a sailboat with five people on board.

However, Alfredo López, of the Atlantic Orca Working Group, told Newsweek that if the killer whales were aggressive, dolphins would not go near them.

"Since we have been observing these cases, and we are recording what happens in these circumstances, we have verified that the orcas' behaviors are not aggressive, all their gestures, way of moving and actions do not show aggressiveness," López said.

"Although they do not feed on dolphins, if the killer whales were aggressive, the dolphins would not approach them for prevention. That is why the image of the killer whales sailing with the dolphins demonstrates, once again, that their attitude is not at all aggressive in the interaction actions they carry out with the sailboats."

"Sometimes the sailors [involved in the attacks] in the interviews told us that the orcas were accompanied by [...] dolphins. Even they stated once that they were swimming together with dolphins," the group said on Facebook.

"Some days ago [...] they provided a graphic document [of the interaction]. An orca enters the stern of a sailboat in Galicia accompanied by dolphins. This confirms that the attitude of the orcas, regardless of the reasons that lead them to these actions, is not aggressive."

López previously told Newsweek that although these boat interactions are not increasing, since 2020, "they do not stop."

"They are not attacks. They are interactions; that is, killer whales detect a foreign object that enters their lives and respond to its presence, but not in an aggressive way. They do not show aggressiveness in their behavior, but by touching and manipulating it. That is what we define as interactions," López said.

Orcas are very intelligent animals, so they may approach these boats out of curiosity. They can also be playful, and some killer whales have been observed chasing boats, or biting the rudder, as a game.

However, orcas can grow sometimes up to 26 feet and can weigh 12,000 pounds, so these interactions can be frightening to sailors and boat passengers.