A ship captain harassed by a pod of orcas last month said he’s worried that headlines about recent killer whale attacks will lead boaters to start shooting the marine mammals.
“I’m very worried about these creatures and think that we have an enormous responsibility to protect them,” Sebastien destremau told Newsweek . The media is highlighting the aggressive behavior and people are becoming armed. They’re getting a shotgun onboard their boat.”
Destremau previously said his sailing yacht was ambushed in late May by a pod of about 20 orcas, who started to “systematically attack our rudder.”
It was the latest aggression from killer whales off the Iberian peninsula. Earlier in May, a squad of three orcas sank a sailboat, thrashing its rudder and ramming it at full force. That was the third time a killer whale sank a ship since 2020.
A researcher suggested that the attacks could be the work of a traumatized female orca named White Gladis, who could be teaching others how to ram boats, LiveScience reported.
But Destremau does not buy this theory.
“They would crush it in an instant if they so desired,” Destremau told Newsweek. “But they were not aggressive, they’re not wanting to have a piece of you.”
Destremau said the orca were blowing bubbles as they bumped his ship around. Still, he was worried the massive marine mammals might do damage to the vessel, putting his crew in danger.
” “The shocks they gave were very strong and hard, as if the animals were going all out,” said he to Newsweek.
Most orca-human interactions are benign, and no fatalities have been reported. Insider previously reported that experts said the best way to avoid being attacked by orcas is to keep out of the water.
Destremau urged sailors not to take rash action against the sea giants, Newsweek reported.
“This is their world. It’s not ours,” Destremau said.
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