After the events of last May, in which three sailboats were attacked by a group of orcas in the waters of the Strait, causing considerable damage to the vessels, the scientific community is studying the causes of these attacks. However, there are no clear conclusions.
Apparently, there are 15 orcas that form this group of cetaceans, with the largest of them adopting the name 'Gladis', and the others having similar names like 'Gladis gray', 'Gladis black', or 'Gladis small'.
Initially, it was suggested that the orcas might have perceived these types of boats as a threat, leading them to ram into them. However, this possibility was not considered likely since such incidents were rare.
According to some researchers, the mother orca of the group may have had a negative experience with these boats, which traumatized her, resulting in her instilling aggressive behavior in her offspring.
However, several experts consulted by Andalucía Información disagree with this opinion, stating, "all cetaceans have been suffering for the past 50 years. In the past, the Japanese used to catch 50 kilograms of whales every day. If it were due to bad experiences, they would have started seeking revenge earlier."
Another possibility on the table is that the collisions were accidental. Orcas are marine mammals that need to surface to breathe, and the fact that sailboats have such quiet engines may have inadvertently led to these collisions.
"There are so many options that it could even be that they interacted with the rudder of a boat and found it entertaining, which is why they repeated it more than once," underline the experts.
Further investigations are still needed, but what is clear is that there is currently a division of opinions among researchers regarding the cause of these events.
