A veteran sailor targeted twice by the same pod of orca whales claims they are honing their dangerous skills.
There has been an uptick in orca attacks on boats in the Strait of Gibraltar, and although Captain Dan Kriz has more than 20 years of experience on the high seas, he is still concerned, Newsweek reported Saturday.
Kriz works as a Professional Yacht Delivery Captain for Reliance Yacht Management, according to its website.
He first encountered an orca whale, a creature the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries website describes as “the ocean’s top predator,” in 2020.
Regarding his first encounter, Kriz told Newsweek, “I was sailing with my delivery crew through the Strait of Gibraltar delivering a yacht when I was surrounded with a pack of eight orcas, pushing the boat around for about an hour.”
He added his boat was one of the first to experience the orcas’ behavior, which damaged the ship’s rudder and forced the crew to be towed to a marina in Spain.
Video footage posted Tuesday shows orcas biting off rudders on boats in the Strait of Gibraltar, according to Catamaran Guru:
“We lost both rudders,” a man says from behind the camera as the whale pushes the debris around in the water.
Per the Newsweek report, Kriz said the same orcas targeted him and his crew again in April while they were about to cross shipping lines and move south to the Canary Islands.
Kriz told the group to stay calm because there was nothing they could do to avoid the creatures, noting their intelligence and that they appeared to have developed their strategy since the initial incident.
The captain explained that, during the first encounter, the whales were heard communicating with each other. But this time, they were quiet before destroying the rudders.
“Looks like they knew exactly what they are doing,” Kriz observed.
According to the NOAA, orcas are considered “one of the most recognizable marine mammals, with their distinctive black and white bodies,” and are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Meanwhile, three boats sunk following reportedly coordinated orca whale attacks, Good Morning America reported in May.
Video footage shows an orca and calf slamming a ship’s hull and charging the rudder, causing significant damage:
It is not known exactly why the orca incidents are happening, but one theory experts have is that a female taught others how to target ships because she was previously injured by a boat.
However, Sébastien Destremau, a captain who experienced an attack on May 22, said he thinks it is orcas teaching their young hunting strategies.
Meanwhile, Kriz told Newsweek he opposes any ideas about hurting the creatures because the “Bottom line is we are in their territory.”