Angry killer whales terrorize boat travelers passing through the idyllic bay off the island of Majorca.
Several ships have already sunk – and now Paradise Island is sending out a warning.
– It's a big mystery, says biologist Alfredo Lopez.
Boats en route to Palma reportedly received unwanted greetings from about 50 killer whales wandering along the coast Mallorca Daily Bulletin.
The luxury yacht was rammed while the rudder was destroyed. The newspaper reported that four boats also sank.
The danger zone is large.
In 2023, it extended from Brest in France across the Bay of Biscay, the Iberian Peninsula, the Strait of Gibraltar, the northern Moroccan coast, and towards the Mediterranean coast in Spain.
Mallorca is now preparing for a new wave of attacks.
By being prepared and prioritizing safety and awareness, captains can reduce the risk of encountering killer whales when navigating the waters, says John Purbeck, a researcher with the California Killer Whale Project.
Scientists were puzzled
In recent years, about a hundred ships have been damaged in killer whale attacks, but scientists have not yet found an explanation.
– It's a big mystery, says Alfredo Lopez, a biologist at the University of Santiago, in the Mallorca Daily Bulletin.
Lopez believes it's not necessarily because of the anger that killer whales attack.
– Killer whales are large dolphins, and as with dolphins, these incidents can be due to the killer whales' curious and playful behavior as they try to outrun boats.
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