Collisions of killer whales (Orcinus orca) with sailboats have become more frequent in the Strait of Gibraltar, near the coast of Spain. But these are not “accidents”, but a deliberate ramming in the name of mammals.

Scientists observed that orcas knocked over three sailboats off the coast of Spain during the week, attacked the rudder, and crashed into the side of the ship. It’s the first time an adult killer whale has attacked a boat after being injured and “in a moment of critical suffering”. But the mammal did not do this alone, but with young killer whales, which copied the technique of the parent individual.

For example, the captain of one of the sailboats, which was capsized by a pack of killer whales, said that the two smaller killer whales “wake the rudder from behind, and the larger one pulled back several times and hit the ship with all its strength from the side.” “At the same time, he clearly saw real social behavior in these individuals – the two little ones imitating the big one.

According to the captain, later small killer whales took over the technique of the large individual and at the same time began to crash into the ship. The captain added, “Two small killer whales were following the technique of the large killer whale, and after some escape they crashed into the ship.”