Sailors rescued after dangerous incident in 'orca alley': 'This is not a good thing'

The orcas are at it again. Two sailors were rescued from a stricken vessel off Spain's northern coast following an attack by a pod of killer whales.

According to People magazine, the incident took place near the town of Deba in the Basque Country. In a coordinated effort, the whales rammed and disabled a yacht but otherwise left the sailors unharmed. Though there have been hundreds of orca attacks in Spanish waters, they don't usually happen in the north. Most occur in the Strait of Gibraltar, which some rather ominously call "orca alley."

The whales didn't show any outward signs of aggression; they did not see the unfortunate sailors as a potential meal. They instead seem to take great delight in breaking the rudders of sailboats.

Experts speaking to USA Today explained that despite the damage caused, the whales aren't really acting out of malice (or class consciousness) but a sense of mischief driven by boredom. A report into roughly 700 instances since 2020 found the attacks were primarily the work of juvenile orcas. With food plentiful, the young hooligans have time to kill, and yachts make for good sport. Just like humans, other young orcas watch the miscreants at work and copy their behavior.

The latest orca incident attracted dark mirth on social media. A Reddit thread discussing the whales' hijinks reveled in the schadenfreude of damaged yachts. "I love that in orca fashion, no humans were harmed in the sinking of this yacht," one user said. Another implied the whales were doing more to protect the environment — given the outsized environmental impact of megayachts — than most: "Orcas fighting harder for common people than our government."

A more serious commenter worried that the incidents could lead sailors to take drastic measures to protect their boats: "This is not a good thing. People are going to start shooting and throwing grenades."

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Ultimately, it's a matter of public education and taking sensible precautions when traversing orca alley. A wildlife expert told The Sydney Morning Herald that recommendations include turning off engines around the whales and using avoidance strategies such as sticking to shallow waters.

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