Summary
Something strange started happening in early 2023 in the waters off south-western Europe, where the Mediterranean sea meets the Atlantic ocean. Orcas began slamming into the sides of fishing and sailing vessels. The killer whales then dived underneath to locate and destroy the rudders used to steer the boats. Once finished, the orcas departed, leaving shocked crews and thousands of dollars of damage behind. Some of the attacks were over in a matter of minutes, but others lasted hours.
It’s very unusual behaviour for this particular mammal, but orcas are under a lot of threat from man-made hazards. Factors like underwater noise pollution, overfishing, toxic waste and climate change to name a few are making orca life extremely difficult. Could all of this have caused this change in behaviour?
Contributors:
Billy Heaney, zoologist, wildlife tour guide and presenter Dr Jeremy Kiszka, professor of biology at Florida International University in Miami Hannah Strager, marine biologist and director of exhibitions at the Whale Museum in Norway Nicola Hodgins, researcher with the global charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation
Presenter: Charmaine Cozier Producers: Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty, Jill Collins, Matt Toulson Editors: Tara McDermott and Tom Bigwood Researcher: Matt Toulson Sound designer: Nicky Edwards Production co-ordinator: Jordan King
Image: An orca showing its teeth (Credit: Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Take a walk in somebody else's shoes with podcasts from the BBC World Service |
| 0:05.1 | Unmissible stories from around the globe. Search for the documentary, lives less |
| 0:10.9 | ordinary, and amazing sports stories wherever you get your BBC |
| 0:15.2 | podcasts. Are you ready for some magic? Welcome to the inquiry on Charmincozier. Each week one question, four expert witnesses and an answer. |
| 0:35.0 | 2023, southwestern Europe. |
| 0:39.0 | Something strange is happening in the waters where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. |
| 0:44.8 | Predators are slamming into the sides of fishing and sailing vessels. |
| 0:49.2 | Then they dive underneath to locate and destroy the rudders used to steer them. |
| 0:55.0 | It can take minutes or go on for hours. |
| 0:59.0 | Mission accomplished, they depart, leaving shocked crews and thousands of dollars worth of damage behind. |
| 1:06.0 | It's very unusual behavior for this particular mammal, |
| 1:10.0 | so this week we're asking, |
| 1:12.0 | Are aukers okay? |
| 1:14.0 | Part one, flipping a switch. |
| 1:20.0 | And so over the past three years we've recorded 500 interactions like this where |
| 1:27.2 | orcas have been approaching boats and bumping them and pulling off the |
| 1:30.2 | riders. Billy Heaney is a zoologist wildlife tour guide and presenter. He's been |
| 1:35.6 | fascinated with Orca since he was two years old. Out of those 500 recorded |
| 1:40.6 | interactions, dozens have been damaged. |
| 1:43.0 | Four of the boats recorded as damaged have sunk. |
| 1:46.0 | So they're all in the Iberian Gulf and I think the prime hotspot is the Strait of Gibraltar. |
| 1:51.0 | Now in the Iberian Gulf there's a population current status is |
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