Sailors in southwestern Europe are resorting to unconventional tactics to deal with the rising number of killer whale attacks on boats in the region.
Some say they have successly deterred orcas by playing loud heavy metal songs through underwater speakers, describing the method as a “game changer”.
In recent years sailors in the area have had to struggle with an unprecedented number of attacks, in some cases capsizing vessels despite the best efforts of naval authorities.
Boat operators have been forced to turn to online forums and social media platforms to find solutions to a problem that has left scientists baffled.
Some said they are now sharing curated thrash and heavy metal playlists on Facebook groups, Telegram chats and other online platforms.
One Spotify playlist doing the rounds is called “Metal for Ocas”. It includes heavy metal songs like “The Blood of Power”, “Infinite Terror”, “Stretched and Devoured” and “Exceptionally Sadistic”.
In the Facebook group “Orca Attack Reports”, that has around 60,000 members, some from the marine community have shared their interactions with orcas and swapped ideas to deter them.
Another tactic shared on such forums is throwing sand in the water and then slamming the engine on full throttle.
There is no scientific evidence to prove such methods are effective in deterring killer whales from attacking boats.
And individual accounts of using these methods have differed. One person in the Facebook group said blasting the loud music was a “game changer”, while another sailor said the method did not deter orcas from attacking and damaging his boat.
“When we had an interaction last year, I’m pretty sure that rattling the hull by playing full volume east European thrash metal, was the game changer,” said one person in a comment in the group.
“They made three approaches and left after 5 mins without doing any damage... which was 2 or 3 minutes into the music.”
German sailor Florian Rutsch, who operates a catamaran for high-end voyages and retreats in the Iberian Peninsula, however, said the methods had not worked for him.
He told The New York Times that he had tried scattering sand and blasted a heavy metal playlist as a last resort in one encounter with orcas.
Mr Rutsch said the orcas around his boat succeeded in striking its rudders and disabling steering. His boat had to eventually be towed away by Spanish authorities after a call for help.
“It is scary,” said Mr Rutsch. “No one knows what works, what doesn’t work.”
Some sailors are now worried.
They fear people could resort to more drastic steps like using fireworks that could injure the underwater animals.
The attacks have intrigued animal behaviour scientists.
The frequency of interactions has risen since 2020, said GTOA, a group that researches killer whales in this region and in the Strait of Gibraltar.
There has been a sharp uptick in two years in aggressive interactions with orcas, with 207 recorded in 2022 compared to just 52 in 2020 during a five-month period, according to GTOA.
The harassment techniques by the orcas appear unique. In the latest interaction recorded last month, a pod of orcas relentlessly targeted a yacht in Gibraltar for about 45 minutes before it sank.
The boat’s operator said the attack focused on the yacht’s steering fin and caused extensive damage and leakage.
Scientists are also investigating whether the Gibraltar attacks are linked to past trauma.
Regardless of the motivation of the orcas, such incidents have highlighted the more widespread concerns of scientists around the impact of human nautical activity on intelligent marine mammals.
