00:03Recently, there's been a spate of orca attacks in the Strait of Gibraltar, even resulting in the sinking of a
00:08couple of large boats.
00:10It has many people wondering what's going on and causing speculation about killer whales turning violent towards humanity, a species
00:16they have never attacked in the wild before.
00:18Some have been speculating that an orca mother was struck by a boat and has since taught her kids to
00:23hunt vessels in the area.
00:24However, not all are convinced.
00:25This is Olivia Heifey, a naturalist with San Juan Safari whale watching.
00:30What's often been being seen is that, you know, this very distinct, very small group of killer whales is essentially
00:37being playful with that rudder and lose interest as soon as those boats stop.
00:41So it's more of like all about the chase.
00:44And I think it's often getting misinterpreted as an aggressive behavior because we've seen things in the media like a
00:50sunken boat from it.
00:52And others blame orca culture for the attacks, with director of the Center for Whale Research Dr. Michael Weiss calling
00:57it a fad.
00:58We've seen killer whales do fad like behavior and other cetaceans have fads.
01:03They do culturally transmit behaviors and strategies pretty constantly.
01:11Not just killer whales, but other other dolphins and other whales are cultural animals.
01:17Still, while the reasons for their behavior might be a bit of a mystery, the damage done to vessels is
01:22not.
01:22With researchers saying they're worried that an eventual sinking will lead to the death of a human.
01:27Or someone will decide to get rid of the orca problem altogether by hunting the marine mammals.
01:32Or someone will decide to death, or a osób or other trader's meteorologic Cristiano Mal qued lambs.
01:37If you drew the job.
Comments