Why Do Orcas Keep Sinking Boats? 

Leave a comment to let me know your theory. Is it revenge? Or something else?

Can we honestly blame any sea creature for being mad at us?

Something to pay very close attention to is the fact that the orcas are NOT physically harming humans. They are damaging one kind of boat, and only that kind. Gladys probably has a pretty legitimate reason for her anger. Those creatures need to NOT be messed with.

The fact that they chose the rudders cannot be a coincidence. They might just be intelligent enough to know what parts to pull off.

I work for the Washington state ferries and occasionally we have to stop the run due to Orcas. It's pretty easy to tell if it's a resident or transient, especially if one flings a sea lion to the moon. More so, the juveniles like to rub against the ferry from time to time which is absolutely terrifying btw. One time on the Bainbridge run, just off Alki, K pod showed up and we were stuck out there powered down for a good hour because the kids were rubbing against the boat as the adults went after salmon. It was a really surreal day.

Can we appreciate how they have the raw physical power to casually rip rudders off boats but they never attempted to harm anyone onboard?

I’m with the Orcas🫡

I can't help but wonder if this is a pre-emptive measure by the orcas. Orcas are intelligent and long-lived-- I imagine at least some wild orcas vividly remember boats' involvement in capturing their calves and splitting up their families.

Capturing orcas for human entertainment should be illegal.

That's really an important topic to think about, considering how intelligent orcas are! Our crew registered how orcas are changing wildlife in the Arctic. Orcas were rarely seen there. But now, because the ice is melting, they found a way to get there, and our team caught on camera these dolphins taking it over and hunting animals that were unaware of their existence. It's a question mark what changes will happen with the presence of orcas there since they are always the main predator wherever they are.

I, for one, welcome our new Orca overlords

I remember reading something about one female orca being injuried by a boat and roaming around with a group she was teaching to wreck boats

This happened to a friend of mine on a small boat manned by two people. They were attacked at arpund 2pm by well over an hour by a pod of 2 adults and 3 juveniles. The adults didn't participate, just looked on. She said it was the scariest experience and thought they would die. They had to be rescued and towed to shore as the rudder had been ripped off and they were destroying the rest of the boat and literally playing with the wreckage

I read about something a while back. A boat of some kind rammed and injured or killed a baby orca in that area. If thats true, then that must be the reason why these orcas have been attacking boats. The boats have become the enemy, and I couldnt blame them.

I'd watch 10 hours of Orca videos a day at this point. I'm fascinated by them

Could it be the fact that Sailboat's are quiet and do not often use propellers so they are safer to attack?? They are proppelled by wind and sterred by a rudder so they look like a great target to safely play with

Anyone serious about environmentalism needs to face the fact that a significant amount of environmentalism is just an outlet for people's hatred of humanity and themselves

All great points, but one which seemed neglected is the timing. Yes, orcas have always liked stimulus and have in the past attacked vessels. However, the frequency and severity of attacks spiking suddenly after a significant drop in motor activities from the pandemic hints that they figured out we're the problem.

I wouldn't say revenge, I'd say protect. Who knows the cruel things we've done to them that's stuck, taking their family members away, killing them. I'm sure that the trauma passes down generations and they're beginning to not want us around

I don't know about revenge, but given what I know about Orcas I'm inclined to believe they know what they're doing and have a motivated reason for it beyond stimulation or territorial behavior. People don't get just HOW smart Orca's are; they're comparable to great apes in overall intelligence. They haven't been tested as much as apes for fairly obvious reasons so we don't know exactly how smart they are, but their social structures have depth and complexity comparable to neolithic humans. There's a good case to make for them having real culture and even language. Because of their aquatic habitat and lack of a means for complex object manipulation I feel like we tend to underestimate them. I feel that they might have a better grasp of how smart we are than we do of how smart they are. They certainly don't treat us like they do other animals, at the very least. My point here is that these animals are straddling the barrier between animals and people. The idea that they're merely playing and don't understand what they're doing frankly sounds almost insulting to me. These creatures are intelligent enough to formulate, coordinate, and execute simple plans while hunting; it isn't much of a stretch to think that this is also an intentional plan with an intended impact. Exactly what they hope to achieve and why they're taking this specific course of action isn't very clear, but it seems far too consistent to be impulsive behavior to me. It feels very much like there's intentionality to it. In any case, I think they've made it pretty clear they are unhappy with human activity in their environment, and I feel we should respect that.

Just wanted to express my thanks to the team that makes the videos for this channel. I love learning about science, astronomy and nature, and I love that there's an entertaining and digestible channel like this that I can watch. Fantastic job, everyone! And thank you for your part in making the world more interesting and for keeping my curiosity alive!

After obsessively watching the Insane Biology of Orcas video, I can safely say that Orcas are the one marine animal that shouldn’t be messed with. They impress and scare me more than sharks.

It is kinda strange how tone-deaf scientists seem on this one. The behavior is patterned, systematic, and repetitive. Maybe we can't define one single reason for this behavior, but saying there is no reason at all just seems manifestly false. Based on the wounds of the orca, it looks like some members got hurt by boats, and now associate the boats with pain.

I'm SO happy you covered this !!! This is my ONLY animal channel and I love it.

after watching that video on orcas, i have no problem thinking that they are doing this out of spite. i love them so much

Glad this video was made. Not only because I greatly enjoy this channel but also because I was wondering something similar. Seemed odd the amount of news popping up about aggressive orca encounters. Given how smart they are and how collaboratively violent they are, it didn't seem coincidental.

Social animals seem to mimic group behavior quite rapidly. Humans often mimic speech accent a bit, usually not even realizing it, just when talking to a person for a little while. We rescued a female 3 year old Yorkie, she always peed squatting for the week or so we kept her separate from our two male dogs at first. Then, a week or two after she adjusted and they lived together she started lifting her leg every time she peed like our other two dogs. Our first male dog grew up with two female squatters and he always squatted, though that might partially be a hormone thing. Then, years later we got a male dog that lifted his leg and then suddenly our old dog started lifting his leg. We always had around three dogs at various ages, and so they had some unique behaviors and rituals that got passed on. Then one got old and died, another died a bit early due to cancer and we couldn't afford to keep more than one dog for a little over a year for financial reasons. The one dog we had barely had time with the dogs that passed. Suddenly, all those unique quirks and rituals that got passes down for generations disappeared and never returned when we got back to three dogs eventually. Anyways, all that nonsense anecdotes just for me to say that mimicking behaviors and fads, and doing so quickly, seems to be important for highly social creatures.

The prospect of orcas wanting to harm us is ten times more frightening than sharks.

We should keep an eye on this situation as it develops, because if these incidents start affecting someone's profit margins these poor creatures are doomed. For some nature is only good if it doesn't get in their way.

If you're going to translate "Gladis Blanca" at least do both words: White Gladiator. You may also notice that many of the other orcas has Gladis in their name, that's because they've all been termed Gladiators, and White just refers to her markings. There's also a Grey and a Black Gladiator, among others.

Where I live there are strict laws about staying away from the whales when you're in a boat and if they come up to you you cut your engine, all of the orcas around here are super super super friendly, I was once playing with a family of whales on a remote beach on one of the discovery Islands and when the whale watching boat came around the bend of another Island the big mail swam out and started doing jumps for them while the family stayed in the sheltered Bay, they were coming right up to me on a rock outcrop and they had a brand new baby, and this was few weeks after the other calf had died in our Waters and been carried around by the mother for weeks. They are not stupid by any stretch of the imagination, they are highly intuitive creatures and they have figured us out!!!

couple weeks ago there was another group of orcas in the northern sea (i think it was norway). they did the same and "attacked" a sail boat

Okay so your Orca video is the best you've ever done. I'm here for this.

Wait, so what sailboat (specifically a sailboat) has pissed off the orcas to the point where they do something like this? This is clearly something that someone likely incited.

What drives two apex predators to work together? I don’t know, let me ask my dog. UPDATE: My dog said the only folks who don’t know that mammals and even birds (Falconry) have been working together to hunt since before recorded history are the scientists who overthink it.

I love your work! Thank you.

There may have been accidental injuries to the pod by similar vessels, or by people on such vessels. The orcas are not aggressive toward the humans, just the similar size vessels.

I love this channel. It's educational and it's so well made. It invests you in the story withouth added drama and antropomorphosation of the animal. Also loved the extra video with orcas and humans working together. I got emotional at the end when we talked about Old Tom. He deserved better. Keep the great work going.

Maybe when AI manages to decode their language, we can try to actively communicate with them

I loved the video! And liked how you explained nebula more than anyone else! I am curious now, thank you :)

A recent video released shows sailors trying to shoot orcas. Its ridiculous. These animals are absolutely capable of revenge and I dont blame them.

Boat propelers harming and killing orcas quite often. They are also make a lot of noise. It doesn't need a lot of intelect (which they have) for them to attack this part of the boat. If something would hurt dogs, and they could fight back after some time they would also start to attacking it. I don't know why so many people try to portiat it as misterious behaviour that we can't explain. It's shown as something we don't understand just to avoid obvious solution - we should stop allowing to operate boats that's harming species that are protected

Is it possible either these boats maybe caught fish that the orcas considered theres or injured an orca. Very interesting how they target only specific boat type, and seeing them rip the rudder off is amazing

There was a movie in the 70s entitled Orca where this happened... although in the movie, the orca DID eventually attack humans, too.

I think it has a lot to do with how we have used boats to capture their loved ones. It’s even been documented that some got stuck in nets while trying to steal their young, they were advised to cut them open and put rocks in them to sink them. They are smart and intelligent and have feelings too. Now they have figured out how to stop our boats. They love for about 150 years and communicate with eachother. It all makes sense of you think about it. They have been wronged in our past and those ones are still living to tell their tales.

Very interesting video. As noted in video, the reason(s) for this type of behavior by Orcas will remain a mystery. In my opinion, Orcas should never ever be kept in captivity.

Thank you for showing the original artist of the Be A Problem Money Can't Solve sticker! I know they've had a lot of problems with people stealing and selling their work on other products.

I'd love to see a boat hauling a raft with a couple dozen rudders attached. Might help resolve whether playing with rudders is a reason

Maybe they don't like keels, rudders, and hydrofoils that protrude like a knife and maybe sometimes silently surprises them and hits them under water?

Something happened before that makes orca traumatized

That pod who helped the humans of the coast of Australia, I’ve been to see the jaw bone of the main orca of that pod which is in Tasmania. His teeth were ground down on one side from pulling the boat along with a rope!

Yes I'm sure that by attacking minor vessels mostly used for recreational purposes by civilians they'll teach those humans. They know better than to mess with a larger ship.

I rushed over to Nebula and watched the follow-up video. What an incredible story! You genuinely should pitch it as a script for a movie - with that video attached! 👏👏👏

Being equipped with further knowledge from your “Insane Biology of the Orca” video, I’ve been so interested in this topic since it first hit the news. I thought it was exciting behavior being displayed and have been waiting for a video to explain what this uptick in attacks could really mean. I got so hyped to see you made this new video 😂! Thank you for taking the time to create it. As with all your video’s, I gained more knowledge and conjured up more questions about these AMAZING animals. ❤ Much love for sharing ❤

1 got shredded by a propeller, now that pod sees boats as mortal enemies.

Whatever their motives, they are certainly going about it the right way by attacking the rudders.

Love your channel and the content !! Thank you 🙏

Aww man, they really teased that cool story at the end and then paywalled it. Maybe Wikipedia has a good article Edit: Killer whales of Eden, new South wales That's the article name

BEAUTY ! Left me breathless TY.

Another great video.

Like Chuck McGill said: "He Orcastrated it!"

I loved your video and such interesting information! Thank you sooo much!❤❤

My hypothesis is that orcas don’t associate boats with humans, but they have associated boats with danger or competition. If we put ourselves into the orcas’ fins, we’d probably not perceive humans on the boats, most of the times. We’d perceive the loud noises they generate, the underside of their silhouettes as they sail above them, and the impact they can generate on them when they hit other orcas or they trap their fellows with their nets (even if it is accidental, orcas cannot know that). Orcas cannot know that a human is steering the ship above, or using technology above to sail the ship. So when they attack a boat and a human falls in the water, it must be sort of an odd coincidence for them…kinda like demolishing a building and find out that somebody was still living there.

Also I see other channels talking about nebula but I'm sure it's gonna be this one that eventually catches me at the right time for it.

Oh god... THEY WANT THE HOSTAGES BACK!!

I haven't clicked on a video this fast in a while

It seems more plausible that they’re upset we keep taking their food. They’re AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL creatures.

Could it be that recreational vessels more commonly carry sonars today? Sonar for finding fish, sonar for measuring depth and so on. The incredibly loud sound emitted by a powerful sonar might hurt the Orcas hearing.

As an orca... I approve of this message!

They are giant dolphins so they are highly intelligent and probably correctly see humans as competition for the tuna.

I love this, I interview some of the most well known scientists, creatives & enthusiasts around the world every week.

I welcome our orca comrades to the struggle

The more I learn and hear about orcas the more I LOVE them!!!

Pretty sure the one man they repeatedly attack did something intentionally or unintentionally. If something that has never happened in a centuries suddenly start happening, there is usually a trigger.

Or it could be they've gotten used to people feeding them, and get mad when people don't?

So what I do take from this is. Orcas attack boats yet not people and there's a pattern from one female in isolated population... call me crazy but had anyone just had the brilliant idea that these orcas simply see the boats as competitors for fish in the area and don't really understand the difference between fishing vessel and sailing boat? Why do we always jump to 'It must be revenge' or other such nonsense when like 95% of the cases it is as mundane as it gets? Do people seriously need the divine punishment in their lives this much?

"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I'VE HAD IT WITH THESE MOTHA FUCKIN BOATS IN THE MOTHA FUCKIN OCEAN" Orca L. Jackson

These is movie called “Orca” about an orca getting revenge on a men who killed both his mate and unborn child.

You are an amazing narator 🤍

Orcas are highly intelligent and communicate on a level we don’t understand. At one point one of them noticed it’s not that hard to knock a meal off a boat and that meal has no skills for fighting back or escaping so he told others how it works. The ocean is their world

if Orcas were really that smart, they'd know what people tend to do with animals that pose a threat

Another informative video.

I can't with the fish hats 😂

An Orca ("Purple Whale") named Porphyrios attacked boats in the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century.

Knowing what human are capable of when something pissed them off, a Europe wide man hunt is about to commence

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

Some fisherman or other boating people with a boat with a size of about 12 meters probably mistreated an orca deliberately by attacking it or attacking it's child. In the case of fisherman they maybe did it multiple times to drive the orca's away from the catch. And the orca's started to correlate the boats to feeling pain. So they started attacking the boats and spreading the messages to others in the pod, who copy the behavior. Just simple behavior to annihilate a threat

Maybe they see boats as competition for food.

Aquaman build up an army there🧜🏾‍♂️

The fact this interesting subject also intesects with an amazing song Mastodon Blood and Thunder just pinged into my imagination.

To be completely honest, I would believe that this pattern we see from the orcas is similar behavior to the type of behavior the love for a football team and the "hatred" for another might be passed down from a father to a son. I think that an orca mother might have had a bad experience with human boating and as its calves grew they took off this behavior, in the same way, a strong political opinion often is standing strong within the same household. Furthermore, I believe that this might have become a sort of trend for the orcas, which might have just only been able to grow recently as I think norms become increasingly more important for the orcas, and in particular to stay with them, as their population size is decreasing which means cultural diversity decreases and the importance of sticking together increases as if you won't follow the norms you might find yourself more likely to soon travel your path alone. But, HOPE I kind off am wrong in this remark and that the orcas truly understand their actions, as I dream about orcas having a true understanding and self-awareness, partly so that we might not be as alone as we think we are. PS. Also wanted to say that I really love your videos from the deepest depths of my heart, as they make you appreciate the hidden world around you which most might never get the opportunity to appreciate

So, question for any lawyers that might see this... Is it a crime to make a weapon and give it to a wild animal? If the animal later uses it to sink a ship? Asking for a friend.

I dare say the increased conflict between humans and big animals, is likely also because we hunt them much less than before, and not based on opportunity(proximity to human populations) but usually based on quotas.

Great video.

Maybe it's the sonar the boats carry? It is a well known fact that boat sonar disrupts and can even deafen marine mammals, and maybe this pod has figured out that attacking the boats makes the sonar go away

Humpbacks methodically wiping them out might have something to do with it.. Not to belittle their trauma of surviving Orcas trying to eat them while they're young.. it's a complicated situation, far as I understand it, and we can't talk to either side properly yet, and physical intervention wont prevent hate.. Communication is key.

Even Orcas are sick of our crap

So long and thanks for all the fish

Orca's design is magnificent

I’m loving the orcas finally doing something to fight back, I hope this doesn’t mean they get attacked by more humans