For several weeks now, reports of the unusual behaviour of killer whales have been worrying sailors along the European Atlantic coast. Several yacht crews have reported attacks by the marine mammals on their ships. It appears that the animals are deliberately targeting the rudder blades in order to damage them. Yachts have already been turned on their own axis several times and have even had to be towed away unable to manoeuvre, as various newspapers have reported.
A German long-distance crew has now captured such an incident on video. The footage shows orcas swimming close to both sides of the boat. One of them dives under the ship and you can see the steering wheel turning uncontrollably. The crew reports how the whales "bump" against the boat from below. But then they let go of the yacht again.
Thilo Ernst, Leonie Maßmann and Jonas Manke spent a year reefing their old steel yacht and equipping it for a circumnavigation. The three friends are documenting their adventure on the YouTube channel "Blue Horizon". The latest video shows the recently completed crossing of the Bay of Biscay with the whale incident
Why the killer whales behave so aggressively is a mystery. Although there are repeated reports of collisions between whales and yachts, there are no reports of targeted attacks such as those recently experienced. The incidents have mainly been reported in the Strait of Gibraltar, off the Portuguese coast and in the Bay of Biscay. The coastguards issue radio warnings. They advise people to keep their distance from whales and to report their position if they are spotted.
According to reports by whale researchers, one cause of the incident could be the animals' stress caused by the high number of ships and fishing nets in the region. Another hypothesis put forward by marine biologists suggests that it is always the same group of animals whose offspring are having a playful romp.
In any case, whale-boat encounters in the region can currently have serious consequences for sailors - crews should take coastguard warnings seriously.
You can read an interview with a whale researcher about the mysterious encounters between the animals and sailing yachts in YACHT 22/2020, which will be published at the beginning of October.
