The orcas are acting weird.
In the Strait of Gibraltar, off the coast of Spain, the species are striking yachts. For those impacted, it's probably quite scary. For everyone else, it's the greatest clapback of all time.
The narrative, hypothesised by researchers, is this: an orca (aka killer whale) known as White Gladis suffered a "critical moment of agony" with a boat. So, through the dolphin equivalent of word of mouth, the entire orca population is pissed.
Since 2020, there have been hundreds of incidents and even three sunken ships.
Boat captain Dan Kriz has been 'attacked' twice. In 2020, his boat rudder was destroyed by orcas. Then in April, it was targeted again.
"We were about to cross shipping lines and turn south to Canary Islands when we felt like we got hit bad with a wave, but with the second hit, we realised that the same situation from 2020 was happening," he told Newsweek.
"My first reaction was, 'Please! Not again.' There is not much one can do. They are very powerful and smart."
It sounds scary, of course, but also a little funny.
Despite also being known as killer whales, wild orcas are not considered a threat to humans and there has never been a fatal orca attack on humans in the wild.
They rarely care about us. But suddenly, they seem a tad mad at our boats.
Enter: human projection, memes and people with a Canva subscription.
Experts have been attempting to point out that the so-called orca uprising might be... not that.
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