Overview

Orca Wars, also known as Killer Whales Attacking Boats, refer to a series of attacks by orca whales against ships sailing in waters around Europe, particularly near Spain. The orcas carried out coordinated attacks and taught each other tactics for sinking and disabling ships, such as destroying rudders. According to a report published in the spring of 2023, orca attacks off the coast of Spain and Portugal accelerated after 2020 when a female orca named White Gladis who was "traumatized" by a human ship reportedly began teaching others to attack ships. Particularly in the summer of 2023, the news sparked memes and commentary online about a possible "orca war," in which the marine mammals would turn against human beings.

Background

Scientists believe that White Gladis, a member of a highly endangered species, was attacked by an illegal fishing ship at some point in 2020. Suffering a "critical moment of agony," the orca whale fought back, and since then, other orca whales have imitated her. Over 100 attacks on ships have been reported since 2020, with three of them sinking. The attacks predominantly happened off the coast of Spain and Portugal.^[1]

The orcas appear to target the rudders of boats, which move in the water and cause vibrations. The increase in violent orca-boat interactions led the government of Portugal to issue a notice in November 2020, advising sailors to turn off the engines of boats if orcas are sighted.^[2] During a May 4th attack on a German yacht in the strait of Gibraltar, "the little (orcas) shook the rudder at the back while the big one repeatedly backed up and rammed the ship with full force from the side," and succeeded in sinking the boat.

Developments

Scientific Evidence Of Orca Aggression

A paper published by Spanish scientists in June 2022 described the orca attacks to the wider academic community.^[3] However, two sinkings in early May 2023 led to the website Live Science running a story on May 18th, 2023, about the orca attacks and other publications following suit shortly after.^[1]

Continued Attacks

In the weeks after the publication of the LiveScience story about the Orca attacks in mid-May 2023, more took place, including some which were caught on video. The news site Brut shared one such clip to TikTok (seen below) on June 10th, which earned almost 300,000 likes in a week and showed a sailor on a ship under attack by "eight to ten orcas."^[13]

Many online, such as Twitter^[11] user @1followernodad (seen below, right), applauded the orcas, rejoicing at their aggression. Their tweet received nearly 36,000 likes over the course of June 6th, 2023, and the week after.

Some also suggested that the attacks might be a form of a game the orcas are playing as the attacks are not a food-seeking behavior since the orcas don't eat when they capsize boats.

Unexpected Gatherings Of Orcas

On June 10th, 2023, a pod of about 30 orcas was spotted gathering in Monterey Bay, California, a location where orcas are not usually present. On the other side of the United States that same day, four ocas were spotted in the waters off Massachusetts — another unusual sighting.^[9]

Several news outlets announced these unusual sightings as the story spread and some users saw them as evidence of the orcas coordinating some sort of attack. For example, on June 14th, Twitter user @awhalefact tweeted that the animals were "orcanizing," which received over 10,000 likes in less than 24 hours (see below, left).^[10] On June 13th, Twitter user @CriminalUnion FCW (seen below, right) pointed out that the orcas seen off New England appeared to be with dolphins and other marine mammals, suggesting cross-species solidarity. This post received almost 34,000 likes in two days.^[12]

The Atlantic Article

On June 17th, 2023, The Atlantic^[19] published an article by staff writer Jacob Stern titled "Killer Whales Are Not Our Friends," which described the unfolding killer whale situation and scolded people on the internet for joking about it and embracing the orcas. In the article, Stern attempts to debunk the narrative around the orca attacks, writing that instead of being motivated by revenge the orcas are motivated by playfulness, as well as attempting to draw a more unsympathetic portrait of orcas as fierce predators.

Pro-orca posters quickly seized on the article, criticizing both The Atlantic and the author for what some perceived as an anti-orca stance. For example, on June 17th, Twitter user @nirol__ accused Stern of pro-boat sympathy, earning almost 75,000 likes in three days (seen below, left).^[16] Also that day, Twitter user @dieworkwear argued that The Atlantic's anti-marine mammal stance was surprising given that the magazine is named after an ocean, and earned over 37,000 likes in a similar timeframe (seen below, right).^[17]

Suspected Involvement In Submarine Sinking

The Orca Wars story took another turn after the disappearance of a luxury tourist submarine visiting the Titanic wreckage on June 18th, 2023. As word spread, posters on platforms like Twitter connected the two stories. For example, on June 19th, Twitter user @lwt_gorgeousrry (seen below) earned over 20,000 likes in 18 hours quoting "no body, no crime" by Taylor Swift to suggest the orcas were responsible for the high-profile maritime disaster.^[18]

Online Reactions

As word of the so-called "Orca Wars" spread online in May 2023, Twitter users like @vinn_ayy expressed doubts about humanity's ability to fight the killer whales, receiving almost 18,000 likes in two days for tweeting (seen below, left) on May 20th that "we are not prepared for an orca war."^[5] Others, like user @roxiqt, also joked on May 20th about the new hobby that the orcas had learned, receiving almost 40,000 likes in a similar timeframe (seen below, right).^[6]

Others expressed support for the orcas. For example, on May 20th, 2023, Twitter user @spicygolem posted an I Wish All Lesbians A Very Pleasant Evening meme wishing the orca whales luck in their campaign against the boats, receiving almost 500 likes in two days (seen below).^[4]

For some, the attacks reminded them of Freya the Walrus, another endangered marine mammal who got into trouble for aggressive behavior in Europe. For example, Twitter user @vinn_ayy, while despairing about humanity's chances in the orca wars, posted about Freya and received over 500 likes on May 20th (seen below left).^[7] Also on May 20th, 2023, Twitter^[8] user @LucyASnyder posted about the orca attacks imagining a note they'd leave behind, receiving over 1,300 likes and 330 retweets in two days (shown below right).

In June 2023, as more orca misbehavior gripped headlines, more memes flowed. For example, the June 14th meme (seen below, left) posted by Twitter user @marionnumber4 in the replies to a thread full of orca memes earned almost 1,500 likes in a day, while the meme (seen below, right) posted by @Tim_Vollert (riffing off the BORN TO DIE format) earned almost 100 on the same day.^[14][15]

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Search Interest

External References