Environment

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Yacht sinks after latest incident involving orcas in strait of Gibraltar (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 months ago (5 children)

Researchers are unsure about the causes for the behaviour, but theories include that it is a playful manifestation of the mammals’ curiosity, a social fad or the intentional targeting of what they perceive as competitors for their favourite prey, the local bluefin tuna.

Wasn't there a big thing about how they suspected these attacks might have started with a mother watching her baby get maimed and killed by a yacht? Like, I swear it was a thing, but I can't find any articles about it and Wikipedia says roughly the same thing as the quoted paragraph.

I will say though, that I found this bit from Wikipedia interesting:

Researchers have also suggested that the behaviour could be a "fad". Other such cultural phenomena among orcas have been short-lived, such as in 1987 when southern resident orcas from Puget Sound carried dead salmon around on their heads.

Fascinating.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Orca meme culture is sinking yachts. They are taking Eat the Rich to a whole new level.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 5 months ago

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago

such as in 1987 when southern resident orcas from Puget Sound carried dead salmon around on their heads.

Fascinating.

That really is. I feel like we've witnessed an inside joke that we couldn't possibly 'get'.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

Researchers have also suggested that the behaviour could be a “fad”. Other such cultural phenomena among orcas have been short-lived, such as in 1987 when southern resident orcas from Puget Sound carried dead salmon around on their heads.

Oh man, I'm so behind the times. That's not in anymore? No wonder why everyone's been looking at me weird.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

Why have I not heard about orca salmon hats until now? This should be first year biology stuff.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

I also recall hearing about the mother orca and her baby