What drove killer whales' dramatic behavior this year?

It’s easy to be misunderstood with the word “killer” in your name. Still, this year seemed to be a wild one for killer whales. From “attacking” and sinking several boats off southwestern Europe to hunting great white sharks around South Africa and Australia, the black-and-white behemoths appeared to live up to their moniker in 2023.

Shields said that in video from some of the incidents, the orcas didn’t seem to deliberately target the boats' rudders or hulls. Rather, she thought the animals were most likely acting out of curiosity and playfulness. Josh McInnes, a behavioral ecologist at the University of British Columbia, agreed and noted that orcas are known to engage in social learning by spreading or picking up behaviors among their pods. That could explain the string of boat encounters, he said.

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