orcas of the world, unite!
May 19, 2023 4:44 PM   Subscribe

Orcas have attacked and sunk a third boat off the Iberian coast of Europe, and experts now believe the behavior is being copied by the rest of the population.

More from the linked article, by Sascha Pare at livescience.com:

"Experts suspect that a female orca they call White Gladis suffered a "critical moment of agony" — a collision with a boat or entrapment during illegal fishing — that flipped a behavioral switch....

As the number of incidents grows, there is increased concern both for sailors and for the Iberian orca subpopulation, which is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List. The last census, in 2011, recorded just 39 Iberian orcas, according to the 2022 study. "If this situation continues or intensifies, it could become a real concern for the mariners' safety and a conservation issue for this endangered subpopulation of killer whales," the researchers wrote."

Report from last fall from DW News, if you prefer video.

The Orcasonian (no relation) wishes you a happy Endangered Species Day 2023!

This is what unions can do for you advises Ashley Feinberg on twitter (that quote is the whole tweet, for attribution purposes, no need to click through and then be mad about twitter).
posted by the primroses were over (64 comments total) 21 users marked this as a favorite
 
I wish no ill on Spanish sailors, but White Gladis sounds like a force to be reckoned with, and I for one am not taking sides against the orca uprising.
posted by the primroses were over at 4:47 PM on May 19, 2023 [27 favorites]


I, for one, welcome our cetecean overlords.
posted by Kitteh at 4:50 PM on May 19, 2023 [25 favorites]


Orca-nized crime?
posted by amusebuche at 4:54 PM on May 19, 2023 [85 favorites]


At first glance, I was puzzled by the opening of the post. Orcs have attacked and sunk... wait, Iberia? Europe?! Orcs?!

Oh. Ohh.

Ooooooh!
posted by Ghidorah at 4:57 PM on May 19, 2023 [16 favorites]


Yeah, look, great white sharks will gfto of dodge when an Orca is in the area so I'm going to side with the Orcas on this one and all things in their domain.

I'm also a fan of the idea that one of the most dangerous creatures in the ocean is a mammal. Suck it, fish!
posted by VTX at 4:59 PM on May 19, 2023 [15 favorites]


First the orcas came for the fishermen, and I did nothing because I was not a fisherman....
posted by aramaic at 5:09 PM on May 19, 2023 [9 favorites]


From deeper in the article:
"The unusual behavior could also be playful or what researchers call a "fad" — a behavior initiated by one or two individuals and temporarily picked up by others before it’s abandoned."

Kids these days...
posted by Hairy Lobster at 5:09 PM on May 19, 2023 [5 favorites]


Next thing you know they'll be evolving legs and coming to take our Sea World trainer jobs...
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:15 PM on May 19, 2023 [2 favorites]


Hell yes. Be ungovernable, my whale dude.
posted by slogger at 5:16 PM on May 19, 2023 [37 favorites]


Can't help but wonder what they'd do to someone who fell in.
posted by gottabefunky at 5:24 PM on May 19, 2023


They are probably doing it for likes on social media. It's a prank.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 5:38 PM on May 19, 2023 [16 favorites]


There is no recorded incident of an orca attacking a human in the wild (there are documented attacks by captive orcas; which, well, it's hard not to take the orca's side on). Which doesn't mean there haven't been any attacks course; just that we haven't recorded one.
posted by Mitheral at 5:44 PM on May 19, 2023 [2 favorites]


We were in that region a couple of weeks ago and were handed a pamphlet for a whale watching cruise or something like that and it advertised orcas. I'm from Vancouver BC and was ignorant of the fact that there were orcas in the Mediterranean at all, so we then spent the rest of our time at our restaurant patio table reading about orcas (or I did while my partner patiently listened to me exclaim about orcas). It seems the orcas are really trying to get my attention about the expanse of their habitats, I guess, because this is two Mediterranean orca pieces entering my sightline in a short time.

Can't help but wonder what they'd do to someone who fell in.

On my wikipedia orca wormhole I learned that they have never attacked and killed a human, at least.
posted by urbanlenny at 5:45 PM on May 19, 2023 [2 favorites]


Good for her!
posted by Saxon Kane at 5:51 PM on May 19, 2023 [2 favorites]


1977.
posted by doctornemo at 6:07 PM on May 19, 2023 [2 favorites]


Saruman has crossed orcas with goblin mode!
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 6:09 PM on May 19, 2023 [4 favorites]


Going Payakan mode.

Box Office Jim Cameron doesn't miss.
posted by Reyturner at 6:09 PM on May 19, 2023 [1 favorite]


Proposal: designate a section of their natural habitat as an orca preserve where boats shouldn’t go. Problem solved.

(Yeah yeah, I know it’s probably not that easy, politically speaking. But from a practical standpoint that would certainly solve multiple issues.)
posted by eviemath at 6:09 PM on May 19, 2023 [2 favorites]


Cetacean Fixation on Flotation Negation Prompts Speculation, Consternation
posted by dephlogisticated at 6:16 PM on May 19, 2023 [28 favorites]


SO IT BEGINS
posted by adamrice at 6:18 PM on May 19, 2023 [3 favorites]


This is straight out of Ian Watson's The Jonah Kit, albeit without so gloomy a denouement or so we hope.
Also: What took them so long?
posted by y2karl at 6:23 PM on May 19, 2023 [1 favorite]


Seals approve of the distraction. One might even say they are giving this their seal of approval.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:31 PM on May 19, 2023 [4 favorites]


This is what happens when they have stand-your-ground laws.
posted by MtDewd at 6:35 PM on May 19, 2023 [7 favorites]


Stand-your-sea, surely?
posted by eviemath at 6:39 PM on May 19, 2023 [3 favorites]


"The unusual behavior could also be playful or what researchers call a "fad" — a behavior initiated by one or two individuals and temporarily picked up by others before it’s abandoned."

Kids these days...


Too much time on FishTok.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 6:39 PM on May 19, 2023 [8 favorites]


Proposal: designate a section of their natural habitat as an orca preserve where boats shouldn’t go. Problem solved.

(Yeah yeah, I know it’s probably not that easy, politically speaking. But from a practical standpoint that would certainly solve multiple issues.)
So what do we use to make the orcas understand that they’re not supposed to attack boats outside the exclusion zone? “Solved” only if the “preserve” is the entire ocean. Which certainly would be a bit of a political problem…
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 6:45 PM on May 19, 2023 [2 favorites]


Begun, the revolution has.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:00 PM on May 19, 2023 [1 favorite]


At first glance, I was puzzled by the opening of the post. Orcs have attacked and sunk... wait, Iberia? Europe?! Orcs?!

yeah same, been playing a lot of D&D lately so I was ready to accept this
posted by taquito sunrise at 7:00 PM on May 19, 2023 [2 favorites]


At first glance, I was puzzled by the opening of the post. Orcs have attacked and sunk

It"s been a long day and a couple cocktails and small phone screen, so I was wondering why European Oreos are so aggressive for a minute.
posted by EvaDestruction at 7:11 PM on May 19, 2023 [13 favorites]


I gotta say, while I understand the anger the Orcas must be feeling, I have studied human behavior for a long time and I fear that an Orca extinction event my be in the offing.
posted by evilDoug at 7:20 PM on May 19, 2023 [5 favorites]


I'm also a fan of the idea that one of the most dangerous creatures in the ocean
The most dangerous creature in the ocean is definitely a mammal, mind you.
Also, this whole thing has a very Sheri S. Tepper feel to it.
posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 7:27 PM on May 19, 2023 [7 favorites]


Orcas can do anything they want. International waters, yo.
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:31 PM on May 19, 2023 [6 favorites]


Too much time on FishTok.

ITYM Tik-Torca
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:34 PM on May 19, 2023 [10 favorites]


Anybody know if the boats were sailing or motoring? Or is there no correlation?
posted by keep_evolving at 9:12 PM on May 19, 2023 [1 favorite]


It begins.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:14 PM on May 19, 2023


nature is healing
posted by yueliang at 9:35 PM on May 19, 2023 [2 favorites]


This is tragic.

I get that people make jokes about sad things, but I can't get even a dark humour laugh out of this.

I'm not sure if people are aware what we're doing to large predators in the sea, how few of them are left.

And how they can't get away from our noise, our relentless intrusion into their home, and the fact that we're emptying the ocean of their food.

Would we make jokes about a traumatised human woman fighting back against her colonisers, who can (inevitably will?) destroy her and her family because she's inconvenienced us?

Not attacking individual people here, it's the world we live in and your jokes do no harm, but man I don't feel like joking myself.
posted by Zumbador at 9:53 PM on May 19, 2023 [33 favorites]


I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm making jokes because as a multiply marginalized person, I legit have survived some of the worst years of my life and identify with the orca taking out these ships and fighting for their lives. The life of me and my friends and loved ones are this dark already, so I just feel more in solidarity, really. The US federal government thinks COVID is no longer a national emergency when I have disabled loved ones going through their 15th surgery due to complications, and my friends have to flee their homes because of anti trans bills. Destroy the ships, destroy the billionaires. Not to mention incessant white supremacy trying to kill POC like me. A chipper human centered metaphor for the day, I guess. I'm joking all the way down to the end.
posted by yueliang at 10:02 PM on May 19, 2023 [42 favorites]




Orcas: Assemble!!
posted by carmicha at 10:37 PM on May 19, 2023 [3 favorites]


Yes I'm sorry for my previous comment. Not meant as an attack or judgement on others. Just having a bad moment and trying to bring that across.
posted by Zumbador at 11:31 PM on May 19, 2023 [4 favorites]


Also a plot point in The Swarm.
posted by Paul Slade at 11:57 PM on May 19, 2023


Kids these days...

millenni-whales
posted by brundlefly at 12:17 AM on May 20, 2023 [2 favorites]


There is no recorded incident of an orca attacking a human in the wild

There are numerous recorded incidents; there has never been a confirmed fatal attack outside of an aquarium. However there are lots of reported incidents among the indigenous peoples of the arctic.
posted by interogative mood at 12:22 AM on May 20, 2023 [3 favorites]


There is also this documentary.

I wrote this piece about it years ago. I get no $$$ from it so hopefully it doesn't qualify as Pepsi Blue.
posted by brundlefly at 12:42 AM on May 20, 2023


I'd laugh but the racoons at my nearby Bird Sanctuary have started to rise up and are getting very aggressive during the day. About 3 weeks ago Park District workers cut down a tree and chainsawed through 2 baby racoons in the process. I saw Orca (1977) when it was shown on broadcast TV.
posted by srboisvert at 1:06 AM on May 20, 2023 [2 favorites]


Man, this reboot of Star Trek IV goes to some dark places.
posted by Servo5678 at 1:34 AM on May 20, 2023 [5 favorites]


This article from Sun 13 Sep 2020 provides some context:

The Straits is an important migratory route for the tuna. It has been economically crucial to this region for thousands of years – the Romans produced coins in Cadiz depicting the once bountiful fish. Local fisheries still use an ancient technique – almadraba, a complex system of trap nets. Each spring, the bluefin arrive to spawn in the Med; many find their way into the nets instead. In July and August, as the tuna leave for the Atlantic, the fishermen switch to drop lines – baited with fish and lowered with rocks. These artisanal techniques are far less harmful than trawling, purse seining or driftnets – and than the reckless sport-fishing boats speeding at 10 knots, trailing long lines.

“They target the orca, because they think there must be tuna under the pods,” says Jörn Selling, a marine biologist for Firmm whale watching and research foundation with 17 years’ experience in the Straits. “They go right through the pods, their hooks cutting the dorsal fins”.

In the past, the orca chased the bluefin to exhaustion, but with fewer and smaller fish available, and the pressures from human activity, some have adapted. As a result, there now exists what biologists call “depradation” – a complex balance between the orca, tuna, and humans – and what the fishermen call “stealing”.

Since 1999, two of the Straits’ five pods have learned to take tuna from the drop lines, leaving the fishermen pulling up the tuna head alone. It’s infuriating for the fishermen, but for the orca, this is high risk. Several have sustained serious injuries. “We see marks caused by fishing lines,” says Selling. “We hear about young orca getting hooked.” There are two females with severed flippers – “Lucia”, Selling says “lost her baby together with her flipper, due to the interaction with tuna fishermen”. Gauffier points out that “there is little the fishermen can do to avoid line or hook injuries” when orca interact; and it’s not known what caused the injuries. But many conservationists suspect some fishermen retaliate violently.

“The fishermen hate the killer whales,” says Selling. The orca are protected, but “unobserved, the fishermen do what they want. They see them as competitors.” Stories persist of fishermen stunning orca with electric prods, throwing lit petrol cans, cutting dorsal fins. Cazalla has seen two orca with recent injuries (Morris thinks there was an injured individual at her boat). “One has a significant scar – you can see white tissue so it’s deep.” This, he thinks, is unlikely to be from a propeller, which would cause multiple scars.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 1:42 AM on May 20, 2023 [14 favorites]


I'm not the boss of anyone just because I happened to make the post, but for what it's worth, I think being upset and not into joking about this is perfectly reasonable.

This situation is upsetting, and interesting, and also a good set up for jokes. (BTW, has no one workshopped a good Free Willy joke yet? Seems like there is still some low lying fruit to be harvested here.) No need to apologize for reactions.

Here's a link to the website for GT Orca Atlántica, a group that works for the conservation of this subpopulation of Iberian orcas. The main page is in Spanish, but you can switch the language to English, French, Galician or Portuguese. There's information about the orcas and regulations, as well as safety recommendations and an app that lets people report sighting information.

Gladis is the term for an orca known to interact with ships, and GTOA has a catalogue of the known Gladis besides Gladis Blanca. (Note that there is information about deceased whales and pictures of stranded whales at this link as well, so consider your current tolerance for that before exploring further.)
posted by the primroses were over at 5:40 AM on May 20, 2023 [5 favorites]


So when I was little, I ended up watching Orca on TV on evening, because who would stop me from watching TV, it was the early 80s, we don't pay attention to that.

And then, shortly after, we went to SeaWorld. And sat for the Shamu show right where I could see an Orca rise up from the very depths of the pool towards me.

I still get this occasional spike of terror every time I'm in a pool. It doesn't matter how shallow it is, I will get a moment of "It's coming for me right now."

Now I can't even go on a damn boat without thinking that. THANKS, SPANISH SAILORS.
posted by Katemonkey at 7:14 AM on May 20, 2023 [1 favorite]


@Zumbador : you don't need to apologize for how you feel, I think it also makes sense and I appreciate your sensitivity about this! I also think my personal response doesn't cancel out yours and vice versa and complement eachother.
posted by yueliang at 7:55 AM on May 20, 2023 [10 favorites]


i hope their uprising is taken up by the other whales and is successful. but if not, they may just depart the planet with their brothers the dolphins...

"so long, and thanks for all the fish."

they know we're doomed.
posted by winston smith at 10:02 AM on May 20, 2023 [1 favorite]


Moby Dorca
posted by chavenet at 11:35 AM on May 20, 2023


It"s been a long day and a couple cocktails and small phone screen, so I was wondering why European Oreos are so aggressive for a minute.

I, too, suffer a lot these days from Crossword Brain. (Orca is also a Crossword Word, but for some reason it turns up a lot less than the favorite sandwich cookie of the puzzle constructor.)
posted by JHarris at 1:14 PM on May 20, 2023 [1 favorite]


There is no recorded incident of an orca attacking a human in the wild

However there are lots of reported incidents among the indigenous peoples....


But you know, like not 'real' scientific type folks, with their grants and all. I'm wondering if indigenous experience would be just a tad different in an Aleutian seal skin kayak vs a 209' steel research vessel.
posted by BlueHorse at 2:47 PM on May 20, 2023 [2 favorites]


I surely don't want anyone to get injured but GO ORCAS RAMMING THE YACHTS!
posted by bluesky43 at 3:07 PM on May 20, 2023 [3 favorites]


I'm not even joking: Good for them.
posted by limeonaire at 4:49 PM on May 20, 2023 [4 favorites]


"The unusual behavior could also be playful or what researchers call a "fad" — a behavior initiated by one or two individuals and temporarily picked up by others before it’s abandoned."

Is this like that 'splash mob' thing I keep hearing about?
posted by Western Infidels at 7:14 PM on May 20, 2023 [4 favorites]


Which doesn't mean there haven't been any attacks course; just that we haven't recorded one.

Smartest marine mammal, LARGE ocean. No one is leaving behind any evidence to be "recorded".

(But anyone remember the feet kept getting washed up a decade or two ago? I have my suspicions...)
posted by [insert clever name here] at 7:35 AM on May 21, 2023 [1 favorite]


Would we make jokes about a traumatized human woman fighting back against her colonizers, who can (inevitably will?) destroy her and her family because she's inconvenienced us?

I probably would, yes. The nuanced part is that this theoretical woman wouldn't be inconveniencing us, she'd be inconveniencing them as in "the man". So jokes that empower her and make "the man" the butt of the joke is exactly the kind of humor I'd expect. Because you're right, it IS tragic but there isn't really anything you or I as individuals can do about it and have any direct impact.

But here is this woman and these Orcas making a very direct impact? Get those fuckers! Some of the humor will reflect that.

The Ukraine threads are similar with Russia (the state actor) and it's military the butt of a lot of jokes. But I don't think anyone loses sight of the trauma being inflicted on people on all sides and on the environment.

I totally get not wanting to joke about it, just know that the jokes are generally supporting your opinions and not dismissing them.
posted by VTX at 9:01 AM on May 21, 2023 [3 favorites]


Reminds me of the theory that elephants have culture like humans do, but in their endangered state they cannot sustain their social fabrics, so new elephants grow up especially stressed and aggressive and have run amok and rampaged over human villages and towns, etc.
posted by polymodus at 11:34 AM on May 21, 2023 [3 favorites]


When this was first reported in the sailing web in 2020, the belief was that it was just one particular whale or pod that was responsible for the attacks. The whales appear to target primarily smaller single-hulled sailboats in the 30-45 foot range. They initially appeared to pretty much exclusively go after vessels under sail perhaps knowing that propellers are potentially dangerous to them. Subsequently there have been many reports of boats being attacked while motor-sailing, but still focusing on the relatively slower sailboats traveling under 10 knots. Higher speed commercial fishermen or large commercial boats have been safe thus far and they have mostly not been bothering the rich guys with their bigger yachts.

I've heard sailors swear that orcas will grab the rudder with their mouths to get towed behind as a kind of surfing game, but this is clearly different, attack behavior. There have been a lot of reports, maybe start with this Guardian article from back when the scientists were telling us it was all in our imagination. There have also been reports that they are attracted to black anti-fouling paint. However, it seems pretty clear to me that no one knows exactly why. It occurs more often this time of year through August or so because this is the season to cross the ocean from west to east and all the local recreational sailors are also out along the coast.

Local fisherman have taken to throwing firecrackers at them, which is obviously horrifying. Most sailors are trying to veer further south to avoid the most dangerous zones, but if you want to go through the straight at Gibraltar, there really isn't any way around them. They like to hang out there and ambush tuna making their way out of the Med into the ocean. Its a bummer because watching dolphins and whales play around the boat is probably my absolute favorite part of sailing. Its a bit more enjoyable if they aren't trying to kill me, even if that's just a side effect of their actions.
posted by Lame_username at 11:27 AM on May 23, 2023 [3 favorites]


Sabrina Imbler wrote about the internet response to the attacks for Defector. She quotes Ron Broglio, English professor and author of Animal Revolution: "Thinking about animals thinking is an important step toward empathy beyond ourselves."
posted by the primroses were over at 12:10 PM on May 28, 2023 [1 favorite]


Free Willy Says Throw Away Your CBD.
posted by y2karl at 12:33 PM on June 1, 2023


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