Context

According to a report by The New York Times, there is a high frequency of the interactions between orcas and boats near the Strait of Gibraltar, hence becoming a multinational issue. 

Orca Attacks on Boats Surge Near Strait of Gibraltar, Raising Multinational Concerns

• Two people were rescued on May 12 after a group of orcas sank their 15-meter-long sailing yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar, 22.5 kilometers off the coast of Morocco. 
• Data by the research group GT Atlantic Orca (GTOA) show that since 2020 (when the rise in targeting of boats was first observed), there have been more than 700 interactions between orcas and boats near the Strait of Gibraltar. 

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About Orcas

• Also known as: Orcas are also known as killer whales and are the largest of the dolphins.
• Characteristic Features: 
  • Color: They are immediately recognizable by their distinctive black-and-white coloring. 
  • Size: They can measure up to 8 meters in length and weigh up to 6 tonnes as adults.
  • Nature: They are highly intelligent and curious mammals, who are not known to be aggressive against humans in the wild.
  • Powerful Predators: Orcas are one of the world’s most powerful predators. 
  • Echolocation: Smart and social, orcas make a wide variety of communicative sounds, and each pod has distinctive noises that its members will recognize even at a distance. 
    • • Pods refer to groups of maternally related individuals seen together more than half the time.
    • They use echolocation to communicate and hunt, making sounds that travel underwater until they encounter objects, then bounce back, revealing their location, size, and shape.
• Status: Orcas are considered Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List of Threatened species.
  • Orcas are listed under CITES Appendix II (species that are not necessarily now threatened with extinction, but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled).

Reason of Attack on Boats by Orcas

• Unusual Behavior: Despite the growing research, scientists said that this behavior by orcas is unusual, but are yet to ascertain why exactly the animals have been targeting the boats. 
• Possible Reasons: Scientists have come up with two possibilities- either the orcas are playing around or they are reacting to negative experiences with the boats. 
  • The Orcas are Playing Around: Some scientists believe that targeting boats could be just a form of play or a fad — a behavior initiated by one or two individuals and temporarily picked up by others before it is abandoned. 
  • The Orcas are Attacking: According to this theory, a traumatic event must have happened with one or two orcas, triggering a change in their behavior, which is being imitated by the rest of the population near the Strait of Gibraltar.
• Arising Concern: Regardless of the reason behind orcas targeting the boats, researchers fear that if such incidents continue to take place it would not only endanger the lives of mariners but also become a conservation issue for orcas.

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