Young orcas are "learning from adults" to ram small boats, reports the BBC. But Dr Renaud de Stephanis, its source for the story, adds that "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."
It is believed that one or two orcas started interacting with and damaging small sailing vessels in 2020. Scientists told the BBC the animals appear to be "playing" with the boats rather than acting aggressively. … Dr de Stephanis is president of Conservation, Information and Research on Cetaceans (CIRCE), a marine conservation organisation. He said the orcas, also known as killer whales, appeared to be playing a "game" focused on the boats' rudders – part of the moveable steering apparatus that sits in the water.
He and his colleagues have now pinned satellite tracking tags to the fins of two of the fewer than 60 animals in this population, which is critically endangered.
This story is a debunking of the claim that the orcas are attacking boats in an organized or intentionally hostile way, but every other comment anywhere that has comments is something like "nature is fighting back!" or "they have declared war on us!" Thing is, orcas like to play.
