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Perhaps they heard about orcas attacking boats (again), and are working on maintaining good relations with a species that they can’t help but notice impacts the
by K0balt 1y ago
Perhaps they heard about orcas attacking boats (again), and are working on maintaining good relations with a species that they can’t help but notice impacts their wellbeing.
Orcas (and whales in general) attacking boats died off steeply after the abandonment of whaling by most of the world. With orcas this makes perhaps a little less sense from an incentive standpoint, but it seems that whale attacks and specifically orca attack frequency moved more or less together.
Recently there has been a rash of orcas attacking and sinking small yachts and boats around the Iberian peninsula, which is mostly attributed to juveniles within a certain cultural group. (Dolphin antifa lol?)
Realistically though the gifting is probably not “politically motivated” lol. But with intelligent animals, I’ve found that it’s very, very easy to underestimate the often surprising sophistication of their actions.
- krisoft 1y ago> Orcas (and whales in general) attacking boats died off steeply after the abandonment of whaling by most of the world. That's interesting if true. What do you base this on? In other words: do you have a source for that?
- K0balt 1y agoOnly source is that I’ve been a sometimes-mariner and cruising family captain since the 80s, hearing about the reports on the cruiser HF nets, and gradually witnessing a change from often aggressive , sometimes disastrous encounters to mostly peaceful or even sometimes friendly or helpful encounters into the 2010’s. I’m sure there is data somewhere, though. In the 90s, the gradual drop off in attacks was widely attributed to whales that witnessed whaling aging out. I doubt there is any scientific validation for this theory, but it is plausible as there are many accounts of whales with old whaling wounds being exceptionally aggressive, with some becoming legendary in their own right.
- missedthecue 1y agoOrcas have been to known to intentionally assist whalers hunting for Baleen whales, so I don't know about this theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tom_(orca) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tom_(orca)