Report: Moby Dick ‘Revenge’ Narrative for Orca Behavior Unlikely, Scientists Say

Killer whales have been ramming boats in European waters since 2020, but some experts doubt they are out for revenge, according to a Monday report.

Since 2020, there have apparently been 500 reports of boats encountering orcas off the Iberian Peninsula, per the Los Angeles Times. 

One sailor who was targeted twice by the same pod of orcas in the Strait of Gibraltar believes they are honing their skills.

The incidents have drawn attention from people all over the world, but experts are still trying to determine the whales’ behavior and the timing of the incidents.

There is also a notion among people interested in the occurrences that the creatures are targeting the wealthy and exacting revenge for past wrongs against the whales.

However, the majority of scientists believe the Moby Dick “revenge” narrative is not the case, the Times report said.

Deborah Giles, who is an orca researcher with the University of Washington, Seattle, and the director of Wild Orca, told the outlet she is uncomfortable with that idea:

She noted that despite the long history of orcas being hunted by whalers — and more recently marine parks — these top ocean predators have typically demonstrated a lack of aggression toward humans. There are no verified instances of orcas killing humans in the wild. The only deaths have occurred in marine parks and aquariums, where animals taken from the wild and forced to perform for humans in small tanks have attacked their trainers.

“So, I just don’t really see it as an agonistic activity; I just don’t see it going down like that,” explained Giles, who believes the creatures are targeting the boats because they are making vibrations, sounds, or it has to do with the water moving past the keels that draws them closer.

Sailor Artur Napoleao was near the coast of Portugal when a pod of orcas circled his boat three separate times, PBS NewsHour reported Wednesday.

“I got really scared until I realized, until I see the orcas, see their movements and how gentle they were when I stopped the boat,” the sailor recalled:

According to Britannica, killer whales are known to be highly intelligent creatures.