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

Girls' and Women's Sporting Life in the Arab Middle East

"Sometimes we face some difficulties, of course. Like, 'This is a game only for boys or males, why do you wear shorts?' --and so on. This is a huge problem we face."

"But I think with time, it's getting better and better."

Masar Athamnehy, 20, Orthodox Club women's soccer team, Amman, Jordan

 

"Life has become hell for us, as a woman we can't do anything by our choice."

"Unfortunately,l my dream  to make it to Afghanistan's national team] remained just a dream."

Sabera Akberzada, 17, Afghanistan

 

"You're a girl, it's not right [they tell me]."

"I fell in love with the game because it's got action. I love it a lot, more than any other sport."

Sarah Asimrin 13, Amman, Jordan

 

"There is no support for women's sports in the Gaza Strip -- no support to be like girls in other parts of the world."

Maha Shabat, team manager Beit Hanoun Al-Ahli Youth Club, Gaza

"On the internet, I see many girls [elsewhere] playing normally."

"[The biggest obstacle in Gaza is society and tradition but I just] think positively about the criticism. I will take it as a motive to proceed and challenge everyone."

Rama Ashour, 14, Gaza

Joud Shunti, 23-year-old goalkeeper, trains with the Orthodox Club's women's team in Amman, Jordan. (Raad AL-Adayleh/The Associated Press)

 

The Middle East is a geographic region where the game of soccer has enthusiastic fans everywhere. Even among girls and women for whom participation in any kind of sport, much less soccer, is untraditional and goes against the cultural/religious strain of what is viewed as fitting for women in society. In Amman, Jordan, 13-year-old Sarah Asimrin and her younger sister might be viewed as coming by their fascination with soccer as an inherited trait, since their father is himself a soccer coach at a private academy in Amman.

Mad for the men's game of soccer as the region may be, the women's game has no real status and there is little interest in financing it as long as conservative interests continue to insist that girls and sports just do not fly, along with the issue of uniforms being entirely unsuited since they typically reveal bare skin on legs and arms. Jordan stands out as one of the leaders in the region, with a network of girls' youth and school leagues.

In Saudi Arabia where only in the last few years were women given permission to even attend soccer games as spectators, the first matches of a new women's Premier League were held. For the first time the Saudi national women's team played against international teams. Tournaments newly launched allow women's teams opportunities in international competitions.

The smaller West Asian and Asian football associations held their own first women's club championships several years back. A women's club championship was inaugurated in Cairo by the African Federation last year. This year's games began in Morocco with a sizeable financial incentive for the winners even though the win was considerably less than the $2.5 million that goes to the winning men's club.

Football Player for the Egyptian National Team. Sarah Essam

 

Financial incentives are provided by Jordan's Football Association in support of forming women's teams, so that even some conservative clubs have joined. A holdup in promoting women's teams is the fact that they fail to generate income. Since Qatar was named host of the World Cup this year, it has departed from its traditional lag in promoting women's soccer, to develop women's teams at universities, holding soccer academies for girls, as a new initiative.

The region's most prominent contrast is Egypt with its men's teams -- wealthy powerhouses -- winning regional tournaments on a regular basis even while women's soccer languishes in neglect. Egypt's Wadi Degla wins most women's competitions. The price has been public backlashes where a victory by the under-20 national women's team over Lebanon led to a barrage of sexual harassment on social media of obscene comments and sneers at girls playing soccer.

The African Champions League is to require clubs in its men's tournament to include and promote women's teams, a move that should have the effect of moving the Egyptian clubs to alter their resistance to aiding the formation of women's soccer clubs. In the Palestinian West Bank, women's soccer is somewhat active, while it has a non-existent presence in the Gaza Strip where its 2.3 million residents are conservative and its Islamist government in Hamas has little patience for women's freedoms.

The Beit Hanoun Al Ahli Youth Club with 20 girls playing basketball and soccer wear pants rather than shorts, and long-sleeve shirts. Their soccer-playing days are over once they reach age 17, when they no longer play, looking toward marriage instead. And in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover of the country, the nascent women's sport scene collapsed under order of the authorities, leaving hundreds of female athletes without recourse to the sports they love.

"I feel so worried and so sorry for women, young women who wanted to be independent. I don't think women will play sports again in Afghanistan", sighed Khalid Popal, a former captain of the women's national team now living in exile in Denmark, and desperately trying to get members of the under-15 team still in Afghanistan to safety outside her benighted country.

Soccer player Insherah Heyasat, left, gives instructions during a training of the Orthodox Club's women's team in Amman, Jordan, on Oct. 22. Women's soccer has been long been neglected in the Middle East, a region that is mad for the men's game and hosts the World Cup for the first time this month in Qatar. (Raad AL-Adayleh/The Associated Press)