Marine Traffic Introduction to Gladis

"That traumatized orca is the one that started this behaviour of physical contact with the boat."

"[Her] critical moment of agony [made Gladis aggressive toward boats, that aggressive behaviour copied by other orcas]."

Alfredo Lopez Fernandez, biologist, University of Aveiro, Portugal

 

"At that point, we were like 'there's definitely something down there'."

"After that was when we got the first sighting of them."

"Once the main pod turned up it looked like there was a matriarch with a calf. I thought 'oh dear' when I saw them. There's not a lot you can do at that point."

"After reading reports and knowing what has been going on, I just thought we were in for a ride now."

Skipper Greg Blackburn, from Leeds

 

"The little ones shook the rudder at the back while the big one repeatedly backed up and rammed the ship with full force from the side."

"The two little orcas observed the bigger one's technique and, with a slight run-up, they too slammed into the boat."

Captain Werner Schaufelberger, Strait of Gibraltar 

Killer whales attack a sailing boat off the coast of Morocco Credit: Stephen Bidwell / SWNS

 

Ship captains have been placed on alert. There's a female orca, leader of her pack, who has a grudge. The theory is that Gladis the killer whale, has taken to leading orca gangs into conflict with yachts around Gibraltar. She now has three boats sunk in European waters to her credit. White Gladis, believes researchers, has taken a course of vengeance following a traumatic experience when she was in collision with a boat, or possibly found herself trapped in illegal fishing nets.

It has become obvious that other orcas, known to be sensitive, socially cohesive animals, are emulating Gladis's behaviour. The balance of the killer whale population has taken to copying Gladis's attack mode; they have learned how to ram vessels from their ringleader. Six of the predators slammed into the hull of the Bavaria 46 on May 2, sailing in the Strait of Gibraltar, near Tangier in Morocco.

"Heavy weather" of 25-30 knot winds and a rolling swell of two to three metres were already distracting Skipper Greg Blackburn before he realized that he had other adversaries to maritime safety to be concerned about. There were two thunderingly-loud knocks when the whales impacted his rudder. The first ram raids had been carried out by two large orcas, when another four turned up, and that's when Captain Blackburn knew of a certainty he was in trouble.

He dropped the main sail attempting to present his ship to the whales "as boring as possible", presumably to divert them and confound their attention. Eventually the whales seemed to lose interest, but before that happened they managed to cause extensive damage of thousands of dollars' worth, leaving the boat to limp back to port, another injury statistic.

 

A couple was enjoying a sailing course off the coast of Morocco when they spotted a pod approaching Credit: Greg Blackburn / SWNS

 

A pod of three orcas two days later attacked and sank a third sailboat after piercing its rudder on May 4 in the Strait of Gibraltar off the Spanish coast. A similar attack took place off the coast of Portugal last November. Spanish coast guards rescued the crew of Captain Werner Schaufelberger's vessel, but as it was being towed to shore, it sank at the port entrance of Barbate.

May 2020 marked the first reports of aggressive orcas' action off the Iberian coast. Spanish authorities banned sailing boats of over 50 feet in September of 2020 from setting sail from the country's northwestern tip aiming to protect shipping following the registration of 29 orca ram raids. Since then the assaults became increasingly frequent, according to a study published in the journal Marine Mammal Science in June of 2022.

Mostly, these attacks aim for sailing boats and follow a similar pattern where the orcas approach from the stern then hit the rudder before losing interest once the boat has been engaged and placed out of commission.

Researchers believe White Gladis, pictured, is now teaching other whales to attack yachts Credit: Grupo de trabajo Orca Atlántica