Although one study hypothesized the behavior could have been sparked by one orca’s negative encounter with a boat, most scientists familiar with killer whales suspect these highly intelligent, social and curious animals are simply engaging in a new form of play. More than 350 encounters between boats and orcas have been tallied since 2020 off the coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The recent incidents involve killer whales nudging the boat’s rudder, sometimes until it falls off, almost like unlocking a puzzle, said Luke Rendell, a marine mammal researcher at the University of St. Andrews. It also appears to be a behavior that is taught from one orca to the next.
“It may well be that they started interacting with these things and then realized that if you hit them around enough, they give you a toy,” Rendell told Salon in a video call. “I would explain it as an expression of their natural curiosity, which has led to them developing not a new food source, but a source of toys and games.”
