HARRISBURG (TNS) — Reports of orcas — also known as “killer whales” — ramming into boats have recently surfaced with a couple of incidents resulting in said boats sinking.
And now some experts are saying that the reason for this may simply be because these whales are “bored.”
The Telegraph reports how the International Whaling Commission (IWC) recently met in Madrid, Spain, to discuss why these killer whales may be acting this way and came to the conclusion that basically it may have to do with the increase in the bluefin tuna population.
“Those familiar with the region noted that in the recent past when bluefin tuna were at low numbers, the whales were preoccupied with finding and capturing sufficient prey,” reads the resulting report.
“Now with bluefin recovery, perhaps these whales, especially juveniles, have more leisure to explore novel behaviors.”
In other words, the report continues to conclude that these “attacks” are anything but, and are instead the actions of mammals that have “time on their hands” trying to, well, kill that time, according to expert and chair of the scientific committee at the IWC Alexandre Zerbini via the New York Post.
“We think the orcas are getting something out of it, they are enjoying what’s happening,” told he to the publication. “They’re playing.”
In fact, Zerbini, according to The Independent continues, goes on to say the killer whales’ actions could be viewed as a new “cultural tradition” or even a “fad,” not unlike something that picks up steam on TikTok.
This means that this behavior may eventually disappear, as fads are wont to do.
