SPECIAL | Orcas have been sinking boats. What gives?
The Excerpt
USA TODAY
4.1 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 4 January 2024
⏱️ 14 minutes
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Summary
Last November, orcas sank a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar. This wasn't anything new; these marine mammals have sunk vessels several times over the past few years. The question is why. Orcas have highly complex social structures and there's a lot we don't understand about their behavior. Can studying their interactions with boats give us some insight? Michael Weiss, research director at the Center for Whale Research, joins The Excerpt to discuss these highly intelligent and social marine mammals.
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| 0:00.0 | Wunderry Plus subscribers can listen to USA Today's The Excerpt, ad free right now. |
| 0:05.0 | Join Wunderry Plus in the Wundery app. |
| 0:08.0 | Hello and |
| 0:15.0 | this is a special episode of the excerpt. |
| 0:17.0 | Today is Thursday January 4th, 2024 and this is a special episode of the excerpt. |
| 0:30.0 | Orca has been making headlines this year, mostly due to some unusual interactions with boats. Last month, they sink a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar, |
| 0:35.0 | one of several times they've sunk a vessel over the past few years. The question is why? |
| 0:41.0 | Orchis have highly complex social structures. Can studying their interactions with boats help |
| 0:46.3 | us understand them better? Joining us now to discuss these highly intelligent and social |
| 0:51.1 | marine mammals is Michael Weiss research |
| 0:53.4 | research. |
| 0:56.4 | Thanks for being on the excerpt Michael. |
| 0:58.0 | Yeah, thanks for having me. |
| 0:59.2 | So I mentioned the interactions that Orca's have been having with boats, some taking aim at |
| 1:04.4 | rudders. According to a study in the marine mammal science last year, there |
| 1:09.2 | have apparently been hundreds of interactions between Orkhas and boats over the last several years. |
| 1:14.8 | Do researchers know what's causing this behavior? |
| 1:18.4 | Yeah, I wouldn't say that researchers know. |
| 1:21.2 | There are certainly quite a few theories and hypotheses, right? |
| 1:25.0 | And they range all the way from one of these animals had a negative interaction with a boat |
| 1:30.0 | and is now reacting negatively to them to what I kind of think is going on and what most |
| 1:35.9 | researchers I talk to you think is going on which is these animals have found a new way to play |
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