@areoform
4d
Orcas are genuinely amazing creatures. We have observed evidence for culture within them, and witnessed them engage in social learning behavior identical to humans. So much so that it's important to consider their culture when we consider conservation w.r.t. orcas,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00063...One of my favorite examples is that, in the 1980s, an orca started wearing a dead salmon on her nose. Others soon followed. They copied the pioneer until everyone was doing it. They then subsequently got bored, abandoned the trend & forgot about it.
Alder or A99 rediscovered the trend in 2019 and it became cool to balance salmon on your nose again, https://www.instagram.com/p/CZkhP0fvhXn/
In this case, it's very likely that someone hurt one of them and they're now trying to make the world safer for themselves. They've figured out a way to deal with the entity they see as a threat and they've spread that knowledge.
It's all very human.
I suspect that it might actually be possible to try diplomacy in this case. I may be wrong, but I suspect that they could be reasoned with. This moment in time could lead to a breakthrough in inter-species communication.
@helsinkiandrew
4d
What's alarming is that younger orcas are learning how to do it:
> Two days earlier, a pod of six orcas assailed another sailboat navigating the strait. Greg Blackburn, who was aboard the vessel, looked on as a mother orca appeared to teach her calf how to charge into the rudder. "It was definitely some form of education, teaching going on,"
https://www.livescience.com/animals/orcas/orcas-have-sunk-3-...
> Experts suspect that a female orca they call White Gladis suffered a "critical moment of agony" — a collision with a boat or entrapment during illegal fishing — that flipped a behavioral switch. "That traumatized orca is the one that started this behavior of physical contact with the boat,"
@pkphilip
4d
Reminds me of the Slashdot meme before the term meme even came into existence - Sharks with lasers!
@newqer
4d
All fun and games until a 4000Kg Orca is joining the game.
@boffinAudio
4d
I'm really curious about what techniques can be used to fight back against these attacks, preferably non-lethal .. has anyone tried blasting them with sound, or maybe some other technique to get them to back off?
I mean, what about feeding them a few snacks - can they be bought off?
Seems to me a daring sailor might ought to find the answers to these questions ..
@ChatGTP
4d
Is there any chance Orcas might become self-aware and begin to interrupt shipping and eventually take over?
@olliecornelia
4d
They're about to enter the "find out" phase.
@hidden80
4d
What's communication like between orcas and dolphins, and even... whales? Could this behavior be learned by, say, blue whales?
@mxuribe
4d
So, it has begun! Soon the dolphins will fly off into space...and then, we'll be in quite the pickle as the rest of the plan deploys. ;-)
@AHOHA
4d
Orcas don’t eat humans, we are too bony for their taste, they also hunt in groups, and it seems we are not worth that coordination either, especially they follow their mother’s diet. So why the sudden attacks even though they know it’s for humans? No idea, but I’m sure they are either fed up with us or trying to hint something else.. or maybe as others suggested, some substance is the reason.
@Ccecil
4d
Said it years ago in another post when this same thing came up.
Maybe the autorudder is the issue. PWM noise. In the previous article there was mention that the boats had autorudders on them.
Perhaps this is happening more because more people are using invasive noise producing equipment.
Of course...I am not an Orca researcher, nor am I in Spain. I wonder if it should be mentioned to someone official?
@amadazia
4d
I wonder why intelligent species in the sea are revelling? Could it be sonar, shipping noise, food chain disturbance.
We trousered apes are so primitive and utterly dim when it comes to interspecies communication.
@victorbstan
4d
The animal revolution has begun. Death to humans!
@amelius
4d
The problem is that once a whale gets run over by a ship, he/she will (somehow) tell the other whales that ships are "bad" and must be attacked. Then whales tell eachother that ships must be attacked, and this continues even after the original whale that got run over by a ship dies.
@local_crmdgeon
4d
That's awesome. Good for them.
@el_don_almighty
4d
I, for one, welcome our new Orca overlords and look forward to working with them.
@drewmol
4d
I was recently thinking about the potential failure modes of a worldwide sailing trip on a 60-80 ft vessel. Marooned by Orcas was not on the list… but it is now!
@jmacjmac
3d
Is there a way to scare them off? Some sort of sound maybe?
@YeGoblynQueenne
3d
Unfortunately, there are too few orcas and too many boats to get any good results that way.
