Yacht-wrecking Orcas whales are ‘teenagers not afraid of anything’ after being abandoned by relatives

Rebellious orcas that have developed a reputation for wrecking luxury yachts could actually be bored youth that have been left unsupervised by older relatives, according to experts.

The endangered population, who live off the coast of Gibraltar, have launched a series of attacks on passing vessels in recent years, including ripping the rudders right off boats in some cases and sinking luxury yachts. Their behaviour has included ramming, biting and nudging the boats.

Dubbed the so-called “orca uprising”, social media has largely speculated that the orcas are enacting their revenge after having their personal waters invaded by sailing humans.

But scientists believe the orcas could be curious but neglected youth that have been insufficiently schooled according to the high standards of the species, according to The Times.

They believe that overfishing over the last decade could have led to changes in the food web leading to lower breeding rates and a lull in numbers. When conditions recovered, the new calves were left without teenage orcas to guide them.

“We disrupted the tradition of the teenager taking care of the young ones,” Martin Boye of the Loro Parque Fundación says.

“They should have been under the watch of their teenage relatives, but there were no teenagers left,” Boye said. “So these calves started doing stupid things, they were not afraid of anything.

“And then they grew up and became adults and when they play now, it’s a little bit more robust.”

He will be joined by his colleague Renaud de Stephanis as well as Javier Almunia of the University of La Laguna to investigate the theory in the coming months by listening in on the group.

The marine mammals have shown an interest in the rudders of boats with Boye explaining: “When you push a rudder, it will kind of bounce back - they seem to find that very funny”.

Between 2020 and 2023 there were approximately 500 recorded instances of orca attacks on vessels with over 250 boats damaged and four vessels sunk during the same period. The frequency of the attacks is reported to have increased over the years with a particular spike following 2020.

In July 2024, orcas attacked and sank the Bonhomie William, a British sailing yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar with all three passengers on board rescued by Spanish coastguards.

“I heard a crunch, and it sounded like I’d hit a rock,” sailor Robert Powell told Yachting World “It was like a really loud scraping noise and there was a real big shudder on the boat. I thought I’d hit a container or a fishing net or something submerged.”

He added: “They just didn’t let up. One of them had the rudder in its mouth, it was like it was trying to wrench it off, and then I spotted a third orca which came in and banged against the rudder as well.”

There have been several theories about why the orcas are behaving the way that they are including that they are exhibiting playful behaviour, according to a Marine Mammal Science article in 2022.

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