Orcas that have been ramming boats are not “attacking” the vessels, but are most likely being playful, leading scientists have said. The experts have warned that the false narrative is putting the animals at risk of retribution from humans. Iberian orcas started ramming vessels along the Spanish and Portuguese coast in July 2020, with at least 11 […]
A man sailing a yacht in the North Sea near Scotland’s Shetland Islands said that an orca repeatedly rammed into his boat, exhibiting behaviour that’s been recently seen in killer whales farther south. This is the same behaviour that has been seen in the Iberian orca population, but it is the first time it has been known […]
A trio of orcas attacked a boat in the Strait of Gibraltar earlier this month, damaging it so badly that it sank soon afterward. The May 4 incident was the third time orca (Orcinus orca) have sunk a vessel off the coasts of Portugal and Spain in the past three years. The subpopulation of orcas […]
A new study from McGill University suggests that while some Icelandic Orcas have very high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in their blubber, others from the same population have levels of PCBs that are much lower, with a 300-fold difference between the levels of PCBs among the most contaminated Orcas compared to the least contaminated […]
Marine pollution hasn’t gone away. There was a high level of media coverage calling for much more action to help remove PCBs from the environment. Benny the Beluga has been a pleasant distraction from the grim reality of our politics but he as affected by PCBs as other species higher in the food chain. PCB—still […]
UK killer whale died with extreme levels of toxic pollutants Guardian: ‘Adult whale Lulu was one of UK’s last resident pod and had never produced a calf, probably because pollutants in her blubber had caused infertility. ‘One of the highest concentrations of toxic pollutants ever recorded in a marine mammal has been revealed in a […]