An unknown number of orcas have sunk a sailing yacht after ramming it in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain’s maritime rescue service said on Monday, a new attack in what has become a trend in the past four years.

Archived version: https://archive.ph/PSmqu

  • @aeronmelon
    19•6 months ago

    Orcas are normally docile towards humans. They felt like they had a reason to sink that ship.

    The world could do with fewer yachts anyways.

      • livus
        4•6 months ago

        The way elephants traditionally landscape the savannah, using long-term planning, makes me think attempting to weed out rogue humans might also be a pretty rational decision for high cognition animals.

    • @[email protected]
      6•6 months ago

      This is a sailboat though isn’t it? It’s not like a billionaire mega yacht (unfortunately).

    • @[email protected]
      0•6 months ago

      Scuba divers in the West Coast of BC are trained to be aware of sharks in the water but if an orca is spotted you get the fuck out of the water.

        • @[email protected]
          1•6 months ago

          I think it is that when you are diving you could be mistaken for a slow awkward seal.

          Killer whales don’t attack humans in swimming settings because we are obviously not their food but when divers are underwater mistakes could happen and if you are not close to the surface anything that happens that messes with your regulator or tanks means death.

          • @[email protected]
            1•6 months ago

            Mistakes literally never have happened so far though.

            But yeah, I’d probably get out of the water myself. Or just do something really dumb looking so it was clear I was human.

            • @[email protected]
              0•6 months ago

              Giant pacific octopus would be the worry I would have.

              Octopus are strong and curious, if they lived longer than a few years they would be next to us or higher on the intelligence scale. They can pull off your regulator or mask just out of curiosity.

  • @errerEnglish
    17•6 months ago

    Orcas are one step closer to eating the rich as we all wish

  • ME5SENGER_24
    10•6 months ago

    Can’t Elon or some other millionaire/billionaire be onboard for the next ones?? Too much to ask?

  • Hegar
    3•6 months ago

    There’s a similar account from the 6th century CE Roman Empire: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porphyrios_(whale)

    Could be a whale, or a large orca. The story goes that it was a single creature, but I think a series of Orca attacks that got attributed to a single creature fits the evidence as easily.