Yahoo Autos At Least 20 Killer Whales Are Responsible For Rudder Raids On Sailboats
A scientist based in Spain and his team narrowed down the population of killer whales engaging in sailboat rudder-removal in the waters around the Iberian Peninsula. Twenty animals out of a family pod of less than 60 seem to be the culprits, with the adults training the calves to engage in the behavior.
Spanish scientist Dr. Renaud de Stephanis and his team pinned two satellite tracking units to two of the individuals in the pod in order to give sailors more information about the orcas’ whereabouts. Dr. de Stephanis, who is also president of the Conservation, Information and Research on Cetaceans (CIRCE), told the BBC that the orcas do not seem to be acting out of trauma or (the very human emotion) revenge, but engaging in play:
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“It’s only a game. It isn’t revenge [against boats], it isn’t climate change, it’s just a game and that’s it,” said Dr Renaud de Stephanis, a scientist based on the south coast of Spain.
[..]Orcas are known to be highly social mammals. Other subspecies of killer whale have been recorded playing with floating seaweed, toying with fishing gear and one population in the Pacific even went through an apparent phase of carrying dead salmon around on their heads.
Using boat rudders as playthings is novel behaviour and it is currently confined to this small, endangered Iberian population, but the young animals do appear to be copying adult orcas.
