orcas kentern yacht

Whatever the case may be, it seems that late spring and early summer 2024 may see the sequel to last year's orca-mania — and we, for one, will be watching with eyes peeled.

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Orcas Just Sank Another Yacht

Orcas have once again attacked and sunk a boat near the Strait of Gibraltar, a behavior that has scientists stumped

By Andrea Thompson

Orcas in the Strait of Gibraltar.

Patty Tse/Alamy Stock Photo

The orcas are at it again.

A group of the highly social marine mammals, also called killer whales, attacked and sank a 50-foot-long sailing yacht on Sunday, the New York Times reported . Two people had to be rescued from the waters near the Strait of Gibraltar.

The incident was yet another in a startling spate of such attacks by orcas ( Orcinus orca ) in the area since 2020—an apparently emerging phenomenon that has researchers stumped.

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“It is a rare behavior that has only been detected in this part of the world,” said Alfredo López, an orca researcher at the Atlantic Orca Working Group (GTOA), in an interview with Scientific American last year.

In the more than 500 cases GTOA has documented of orcas reacting to boats, most often the animals have only approached the vessels. In the fraction of reports that have included physical interactions, the orcas have usually bit at a vessel’s rudder. The attacks have usually lasted less than 30 minutes, but some have gone on for up to two hours.

So far there are two main hypotheses regarding the baffling behavior. One is that it is a fad, which orcas seem to engage in just like humans do. Orcas in one Pacific Northwest group famously spent the summer of 1987 sporting dead salmon on their head, for example.

The other is that the new trend stems from past negative experiences with boats, which can strike and severely harm marine animals. The Iberian orca population is critically endangered; migration routes put its members in the path of many fishing, military and recreational vessels. But researchers caution against attributing malicious intent to animals. Deborah Giles, science and research director of the Washington State–based nonprofit conservation organization Wild Orca, previously told Scientific American that orcas in the Pacific Northwest were relentlessly pursued by humans in the 1960s and 1970s—but never attacked people or boats.

Scientists are gaining a greater awareness and understanding of the these clever predators by studying not only the boat attacks (which GTOA has said have declined overall so far this year, compared with previous ones) but also other behaviors. The first recorded instance of a group of orcas killing a blue whale was observed in 2019, and single orcas have been documented killing great white sharks . Recent research has also suggested that orcas in the Pacific Northwest should actually be recognized as two different species versus part of a single global species. It is possible that other groups that are currently considered subpopulations of that one species are also separate ones.

Orcas have sunk another vessel off the European coast. Why won't they stop ramming boats?

The orcas are at it again: for the seventh time in four years, a pod of whales has sunk a boat after ramming it in Moroccan waters off the Strait of Gibraltar. 

The 15 metre-long yacht Alborán Cognac, which carried two people, encountered the highly social apex predators at 9am local time on Sunday, Spain's maritime rescue service said.

The passengers reported feeling sudden blows to the hull and rudder before water started to seep into the sailboat. It is not known how many orcas were involved.

After alerting rescue services, a nearby oil tanker took them onboard and carried them to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory on Spain's southern coast.

Nothing could be done to save the sailboat, which drifted and eventually sank. 

It's the latest incident in what has become a trend of hundreds of interactions between orcas and boats since the "disruptive behaviour" was first reported in the region in May 2020. 

The origin of this new behaviour has baffled scientists, though the leading theory suggests this "social fad" began as a playful manifestation of the whales' curiosity.

Where have orcas interacted with boats?

The latest data from the Atlantic Orca Working Group (GTOA), an organisation that contributes to the animals' conservation and management, shows that there have been at least 673 interactions since 2020. 

GTOA defines interactions as instances when orcas react to the presence of approaching boats with or without physical contact. 

The map below shows the highest numbers of encounters from April to May 2024 took place off Spain's southern coast in the Strait of Gibraltar (red zones), with some lesser activity in surrounding areas (yellow zones). 

A 2022 peer-reviewed study published in the Marine Mammal Science journal found the orcas in these areas preferred interacting with sailboats — both monohulls (72 per cent) and catamarans (14 per cent) — with an average length of 12 metres.

A clear pattern emerged of orcas striking their rudders, while sometimes also scraping the hulls with their teeth. Such attacks often snapped the rudder, leaving the boat unable to navigate.

"The animals bumped, pushed and turned the boats," the authors of the report said. 

Adding this week's encounter, there have been seven reported cases of orcas damaging a boat so badly that it has sunk, though the people onboard were rescued safely each time.

In June 2023, a run-in with the giant mammals in the Strait of Gibraltar forced the crew competing in The Ocean Race to drop its sails and raise a clatter in an attempt to scare the approaching orcas off. 

No-one was injured, but Team JAJO skipper Jelmer van Beek said that it had been a "scary moment".

"Three orcas came straight at us and started hitting the rudders," he said.

"Impressive to see the orcas, beautiful animals, but also a dangerous moment for us as a team ... Luckily, after a few attacks, they went away."

After analysing 179 videos and photos of these types of interactions, which lasted on average 40 minutes, researchers concluded there was no reason to classify the events as intentionally hostile behaviour.

"The behaviour of orcas when interacting with boats is not identified as aggressive," they said.

"One of their main motivations has been identified as competition with boats for speed."

Still, the researchers of the study admitted they were not sure what triggered the novel behaviour in 2020.

"We are not yet certain what the origin of these interactions is, but it is still suspected that it could be a curious and playful behaviour," they wrote.

"[The behaviour] could be self-induced, or on the other hand it could be a behaviour induced by an aversive incident and therefore a precautionary behaviour."

Are the same orcas responsible for these incidents?

Out of around 49 orcas living in the Strait of Gibraltar, GTOA researchers found a total of 15 whales  from at least three different communities participated in the unusual interactions with boats between 2020 and 2022.

Most of those that engaged with greater intensity were juveniles, though it's unclear if others have since joined the group.

These giant mammals, which belong to the dolphin family, can measure up to eight metres and weigh up to six tonnes as adults.

The director of the Orca Behaviour Institute, Monika Wieland Shields, has said there is no evidence to prove the theory these whales were seeking vengeance against humans for a past trauma.

"While I'm sure it feels like an attack for the people on board, for the whales themselves, it really looks more like play behaviour," she said.

"There's something intriguing or entertaining to them about this [boat rudder] mechanism and they're just showing a lot of curiosity about it."

Ms Wieland said it's likely this new behaviour spread through the population as a kind of "social fad".

"Orcas are highly intelligent, very social animals, and with that comes a tendency to be curious about and explore your environment," she said.

"One thing that we see are these kind of fad behaviours that will appear in a certain population.

"One whale discovers something, they find it entertaining or interesting, or fun — it's some type of game. And then they will teach that to other members of their family group."

Are orcas dangerous to humans?

While orcas have earned their fearsome reputation for preying on other marine animals, there is no record of them killing humans in the wild. 

In captivity, orcas have killed four people since the 1990s, though it's unclear whether the deaths were accidental or deliberate attempts to cause harm.  

Ms Shields said she was worried the recent interactions between orcas and boats would skew people's perceptions of these mammals.

"I am concerned that people are going to react with fear, potentially injure or shoot at some of these whales," Ms Shields said.

"We really need to educate boaters about the best things that they can do to make themselves less attractive to the whales and the best case scenario would be the whales lose interest in this and move onto something less destructive."

Spain's Transport Ministry advises that whenever boats observe any changes in the behaviour of orcas — such as in their direction or speed — they should leave the area as soon as possible and avoid further disturbance to the animals.

The ministry also states every interaction between a ship and an orca must be reported to authorities.

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2 Yacht Passengers Rescued After Whales Sink Their Boat in Growing Trend That Has Scientists Divided

Reports of aggressive encounters between orcas and sailboats on the Iberian coast off of Europe began in 2020 and have ramped up since then

Orcas have sunk another yacht off the Strait of Gibraltar — the latest incident in a growing trend that initially began in 2020.

A sailing yacht went down in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar after an unknown number of orcas repeatedly rammed into it, according to BBC , NBC News and Fox News .

At around 9 a.m. local time on Sunday, May 12, a pair of crew members aboard the vessel, Alboran Cognac, reported that orcas damaged their yacht, which had been about 14 miles from Cape Spartel in Morocco at the time, Fox News reported.

Spain's maritime rescue service told BBC that the two passengers called for help after they felt something hit the hull and rudder, which caused the yacht to take on water. 

A helicopter was sent by Spain's maritime rescue service to the location to rescue the crew members and a nearby oil tanker was also redirected to their location to provide assistance. The oil tanker was able to respond quickly and the two crew members were taken onboard and transported safely to Gibraltar, per the outlets.

Meanwhile, the crew members’ sailing yacht was left adrift and eventually sunk into the ocean. 

Reports of aggressive encounters between orcas and sailboats in the Iberian coast off of Europe began in 2020, according to Maritime Executive , and the incidents have ramped up since then.

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The reason behind the growing number of boat attacks by orcas in the area has perplexed researchers, though some have theorized that the killer whales were taught this behavior by other members of their species. 

Alfredo López Fernandez, a marine biologist at the University of Aveiro in Portugal, told Live Science he believed the interactions began after one orca, called "White Gladis," who had been “traumatized’ by an incident with a vessel and “started this behavior of physical contact" with boats. He said other killer whales then copied it.

Scientists from research center CIRCE noted that a group of three orcas from the same pod have been involved in several boat rudder interactions, though they added that they believed the orcas were "engaging with sailboats as a form of entertainment" rather than a form of hunting.

Marine biologist Dr. Renaud de Stephanis told the BBC, “From what I’m seeing, it’s mainly two of those guys [the Gladises] in particular that are just going crazy. They just play, play and play. . . . It just seems to be something they really like and that’s it.”

“I’ve seen them hunting,” the biologist added. “When they hunt, you don’t hear or see them. They are stealthy, they sneak up on their prey. I’ve seen them attacking sperm whales - that’s aggressive....but these guys, they are playing."

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Orcas have attacked and sunk another boat in Europe — and experts warn there could be more attacks soon

Orcas that have been terrorizing boats in southwest Europe have just sank their fifth yacht in three years. And experts have warned that more attacks are likely in the coming months after the orcas unexpectedly switched up their behavior earlier this year.

On Sunday (May 12), an unknown number of orcas ( Orcinus orca ) attacked the 49-foot-long (15 meters) sailing yacht named the Alboran Cognac in the Strait of Gibraltar — a narrow body of water between southern Spain and North Africa that separates the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. During the attack, which began at around 9 a.m. local time, the killer whales repeatedly rammed the boat's hull and rudder, Reuters reported .

The yacht's two-person crew radioed for help and was rescued by a passing oil tanker. But the vessel's hull sustained serious damage during the attack and the yacht began to take on water, which eventually caused it to sink, Reuters reported.

The attack was likely carried out by a growing number of individuals from the Iberian subpopulation of orcas — a group of around 40 killer whales that live off the coasts of Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Gibraltar — that have been attacking boats across their range since 2020.

Most of the attacks occur between May and August each year in and around the Strait of Gibraltar. However, earlier this year, some of the highly social apex predators were spotted circling a boat in northern Spain , suggesting they have spread out much further and earlier than normal.

As a result, the Spanish authorities have warned recreational boaters to avoid sailing too far from the coast and to not stop their vessels if they are approached by orcas, according to a translated statement from Spain's Maritime Safety and Rescue Society.

Related: Orcas are learning terrifying new behaviors. Are they getting smarter?

Since the attacks started in 2020, sailors have reported around 700 interactions with orcas in the area, ranging from circling and nudging vessels to ramming, ripping apart and sinking boats, Reuters reported.

The most recent sinking event prior to this one occurred on Halloween last year when a pod of orcas sank a sailing yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar after a near hour-long attack . Before then, at least three other boats were sunk in the region between 2022 and early 2023. However, no humans have been injured or killed.

During attacks, the orcas' most common tactic is to damage or rip off the vessel's rudder , which makes it impossible to steer the vehicles. Researchers believe this is a learned behavior, and eye-witnesses have previously reported seeing individuals seemingly teach other orcas how to do this . As a result, the number of attacks has increased over the last few years.

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So far, at least 15 individuals have been linked to at least one attack in the region. But researchers believe the attacks can be traced back to a single female, named White Gladis, who may have been pregnant when she started harassing the boats. However, it is unclear exactly what sparked the attacks.

There has even been a suggestion that the behavior has spread beyond the Iberian population after an orca similarly attacked a boat in Scotland in 2023. However, this was an isolated incident, which makes it hard to link it to the Iberian attacks.

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Orcas Attack And Sink 50-Foot Sailing Yacht Near Morocco

Maritime experts have not yet understood the reason why orcas attack these ships..

The orcas have been attacking sea vessels in the region for past few years.

A pod of orcas, also known as killer whales, attacked and sunk a sailing yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar, between Spain and Morocco, according to a report in ABC News . Two people were on board when the incident took place, the outlet further said. They were rescued by a Spanish rescue team, which got the alert by the duo. The Alboran Cognac, a 50-foot yacht, was 15 miles (24 kilometres) from Cabo Espartel in Morocco when an unknown number of orcas began ramming it.

Though the crew members were rescued, officials were unable to salvage the sinking boat.

Spanish authorities have advised people sailing through the area to avoid certain areas. The Strait of Gibraltar connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, separating Europe from Africa.

GT Orca Atlantica, a conservation group, said that more than 700 killer whale attacks have taken place since 2020. It further said there are more than 37 orcas in the Strait of Gibraltar.

"During the summer and autumn of 2020, interaction events began to occur between several specimens of this species and vessels, mainly sailboats, both in the Strait of Gibraltar and in the waters of the Galician coast," according to Spanish government officials. "These interactions have ranged from persistent approaches to ships, to ramming the hull and rudder, causing various types of damage, which continue today."

Maritime experts have not yet understood the reason why orcas attack these ships. However, some claim that the marine mammals could be targeting vessels for sport or they feel threatened.

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In October 2023, a Polish tour agency's yacht was relentlessly hit by a herd of orcas for 45 minutes that led to "major damage and leakage," as per the company's Facebook update . The boat ended up sinking.

The killer whales also interfered with a sailing race last year when a boat travelling from the Netherlands to Italy had a 15-minute showdown with the animals. The crew was forced to drop its sails and make a ruckus to repel them.

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Why are orcas attacking boats and sometimes sinking them?

After four years and hundreds of incidents, researchers remain puzzled why orcas, also known as killer whales, continue to ram boats – sinking a few of them – along the Iberian Peninsula. The most-recent incident was the sinking of a yacht on Oct. 31 in the Strait of Gibraltar.

The origin of these interactions remain a "great mystery," said Alfredo López, a University of Santiago biologist, but he does not believe the behavior is aggressive. Orcas are large dolphins, López said. And like dolphins, the events could stem from the orcas’ curious and playful behavior, such as trying to race the boats.

López, who specializes in orcas, and his team, Grupo de trabajo Orca Atlántica (GOTA) , have tracked these encounters since 2020. The team’s recent study theorizes the orcas could also be exhibiting cautionary behavior because of some previous traumatic incident.

Where have killer whales interacted with boats?

GOTA has tracked more than 350 interactions just on the Iberian Peninsula since 2020. Most have taken place along the Strait of Gibraltar, but the orcas’ mischief or self-defense may be spreading north. An incident was reported in June in the  Shetland Islands in Scotland .

GOTA defines interactions as instances when orcas react to the presence of approaching boats, such as:

• Interaction without physical contact.
• Some physical contact without damage.
• Contact that causes serious damage that could prevent the navigation of the boat.

Recent incidents when orcas attacked boats and sank them

The Oct. 31 incident occurred in the Strait of Gibraltar where a pod of orcas sank a mid-size sailing yacht named the Grazie Mamma after a 45-minute interaction,  Live Science reported . 

On June 19 an orca rammed a 7-ton yacht multiple times off the Shetland Islands in Scotland, according to an account from retired Dutch physicist Dr. Wim Rutten in the Guardian.

"Killer whales are capable of traveling large distances, so it is not out of the ordinary that an animal could travel that far," said Tara Stevens, a marine scientist at CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. "To my knowledge, this data is not available, so we cannot confirm at this time if these are the same animals." 

Including the Oct. 31 incident, orcas have sunk four boats this year. The previous sinking occured in May , off the coasts of Portugal and Spain, but whale expert Anne Gordon told USA TODAY  in May that the incidents shouldn't heighten concerns about the whales.

"Yes, they're killer whales. And yes, their job is to be predators in the ocean, but in normal circumstances there is absolutely zero threat to humans in a boat," Gordon said .

Most of the interactions have involved sailboats, but fishing boats, semi-rigid boats and motorboats haven’t gone unscathed. 

Are these the same killer whales attacking boats or unrelated incidents?

López hypothesizes that the interactions could be a self-induced behavior where you're "inventing something new and repeat it. This behavior coincides with the profile of the juveniles." He said it could also be response to an aversive situation: "One or several individuals had lived a bad experience and tried to stop the boat so as not to repeat it. This behavior coincides with the profile of adults."

"Fifteen different orcas from at least three different communities" have been identified, López said. And they are probably teaching the habit to others, or the others are mimicking the behavior. "Without a doubt orcas learn by imitation," López said.  The majority of the culprits are juveniles that touch, push and sometimes turn the vessels. He noted that adult males don't appear to be involved.

"Killer whales are incredibly intelligent animals that do learn behaviors from observation of other individuals," Stevens said. "Typically, very unique behaviors such as this are learned 'within' group, meaning individuals of the group may learn from each other and participate, but that does not necessarily mean that the behavior is shared outside the group with other individuals."

Which pods of killer whales are battering the boats?

Orcas operate in a social structure called a pod. These pods generally are a group of several generations of related orcas. Hierarchies are established within them, and they communicate and learn from one another, the study reads.

GOTA researchers have identified the individuals responsible for the interactions . One large pod is made up of three generations. It starts with grandmother Gladis Lamari, her daughter, grandchildren and a few other relatives.

Another pod comprises siblings Gladis Negra and Gladis Peque. Both have been photographed interacting with boats. Their mother, Gladis Herbille, has generally just watched her children at a distance from the boats, the study said.

A third group in the study are siblings and a cousin.

Orcas often tracking bluefin tuna

The movements of orcas depend on the location of their main food source, bluefin tuna. The migratory movements of tuna are very dynamic and predicting exactly where interactions will take place is very difficult, the report said. According to NOAA , Atlantic bluefin tuna are the largest in the tuna family and can reach a length of 13 feet and up to 2,000 pounds. They are a highly migratory species and can migrate thousands of miles across an entire ocean.

About the Iberian orcas

While they are called killer whales, orcas are actually the largest member of the dolphin family. This aquatic marine mammal family includes whales, dolphins and porpoises.

The Iberian orca is a subpopulation of the Atlantic orca population. These orcas are from the Strait of Gibraltar and the Gulf of Cádiz. Iberian orcas are small: 16 to 21 feet compared with Atlantic orcas that measure almost 30 feet.

Orcas in general are fast, reaching speeds up to 27.6 mph. By comparison, a 39-foot sailboat travels at about 9.2 mph.

What should you do if your boat is attacked by killer whales

The study recommended these tips to reduce the duration and intensity of the interaction.

• Stop the boat.
• Leave the rudder loose.
• Radio for help.

According to the GOTA study, most of the vessels involved in interactions are medium-sized (less than 49 feet) sailboats, with a paddle rudder, sailing at an average of 6.9 mph, under both sail and motor.

The interactions have been mostly concentrated in the spring and summer months and have been concentrated in the midday hours. They've lasted on average for 40 minutes, but several last less than 30 minutes. 

Types of rudders Iberian orcas have approached

"It is very common for dolphins to interact with the boats and approach," López said. "Before 2020, the orcas did it with frequency but they weren't classified as attacks. Now, sometimes they touch the boat and the encounter is unfairly classified as an attack. They judge socially before understanding what (orcas) do."

Michael Cohen testifies in Trump trial and orcas sink yacht off Spain: Morning Rundown

Michael Cohen could face cross-examination today in former President Donald Trump's hush money trial. A Jan. 6 rioter and a Capitol Police officer are on the ballot today. And a woman is working to regain movement after she said a punk rocker's stage dive left her seriously injured.

Here’s what to know today.

Michael Cohen returns to the stand to detail hush money payment

Donald Trump’s longtime fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen is back on the witness stand today in the former president’s hush money trial. Cohen is expected to delve into payments he said he received from Trump in return for hush money paid to adult film actor Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign.

At the heart of yesterday’s testimony was a running theme: that Trump was personally aware of every step in the payments both to Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal — an allegation that prosecutors had failed thus far to show. Cohen told the jury that Trump directly authorized him to pay Daniels $130,000. Cohen said that he then paid Daniels with his own money, and that Allen Weisselberg, the former CFO of the Trump Organization, devised a plan to form an outside shell company to repay Cohen in installments that were listed as being for legal services provided under a retainer agreement. Cohen testified that no such retainer existed. Read more highlights from Day 16 of the trial.

The defense, for weeks, has sought to puncture Cohen’s credibility with the jury, and witnesses have painted him as hot-headed, self-interested and untrustworthy. Expect more of that when cross-examination begins, as early as today. Here’s what else is in store today.

This is Morning Rundown, a weekday newsletter to start your day. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

More Trump trial news:  

• Trump risks jail if he attacks witnesses in his hush money trial. But his allies don’t, and  they’re increasingly launching the broadsides  that Trump can’t.

Troop movement seen by U.S. suggests Israel could expand Rafah operations soon

The U.S. has seen recent troop movement on the edge of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, that indicates Israel could expand operations there soon, according to two officials. However, it is unclear whether Israel has made a final decision about when and how to proceed. It is also unclear whether a larger incursion into Rafah would be days or weeks away.

The U.S. continues to urge Israel not to go “smashing into” Rafah in a major offensive and to ensure appropriate humanitarian precautions, the second official said. Here’s what else we know.

Jan. 6, Senate matchups and party fights: What to watch in tonight’s primaries

Voters head to the polls in four states today for primaries that will set up key Senate races and settle other intraparty battles, including a race that features a Jan. 6 Capitol rioter and another featuring a police officer who battled the rioters that day. Maryland, West Virginia and Nebraska are holding primaries, and North Carolina is holding runoffs for races in which candidates didn’t win a majority of the vote in its March primaries. 

Trump’s endorsement is on the line in West Virginia, where he shaped the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. And Trump is sure to notch two endorsement wins in North Carolina, where two of his preferred House candidates are the only ones left standing. 

On the ballot tonight is a familiar face for those who watched the testimony during the House’s investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol: former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, who is running in Maryland’s 3rd District. A Jan. 6th rioter, who pleaded guilty to a felony count of civil disorder, is posing a far-right challenge to congresswoman Carol Miller from West Virginia. 

Polls close at 7:30 p.m. ET in West Virginia and North Carolina, 8 p.m. ET in Maryland and 9 p.m. ET in Nebraska. Here are four things to watch.

Caitlin Clark ahead of her WNBA debut: ‘Soak in the moment’

All eyes will be on Caitlin Clark this evening when the biggest star of women’s basketball makes her pro debut. Clark’s Indiana Fever takes on the Connecticut Sun, where a sold-out crowd (and a national television audience) will witness the start of a new era for women’s sports. No women’s basketball player had previously received the kind of attention and adulation as Clark, the two-time national player of the year out of Iowa and college basketball’s all-time leading scorer.

“This is what you’ve worked for and dreamed of, and now you get to put your jersey on for the first time and go out there and play. More than anything, just soak in the moment,” Clark told members of the media over the weekend.

The WNBA is hopeful that Clark’s star appeal will translate to the pros, and it seems some changes are already afoot . For the first time (and not so coincidentally), women’s teams will fly charter for all games. And Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league is eyeing a monster TV deal next year.

On the eve of Clark’s pro debut, Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder announced her retirement after 24 years leading the Hawkeyes.

Russian political shake-up hints at Putin’s true focus

The removal of Sergei Shoigu as Russia’s defense minister is the most dramatic shake-up of the country’s military leadership since the war with Ukraine began more than two years ago. And, according to observers of the Kremlin, it shows that President Vladimir Putin is ready for a long fight with Ukraine and its Western allies.

Shoigu isn’t gone completely. He has been appointed secretary of Russia’s national security council, replacing another Putin ally who will be appointed to a new job that has yet to be announced. (Putin rarely fires people in his inner circle outright.) Replacing Shoigu will be 65-year-old Andrei Belousov, a civilian economist whose “unexpected but logical” appointment could offer insight into Putin’s war plans . With the war in its third year, the Kremlin needs to fully militarize not just Russian society, but also the country’s economy, analysts said.

Orcas sink yacht off Spain’s coast

An unknown number of orcas have sunk a yacht after ramming it in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain’s maritime rescue service said yesterday, a new attack in what has become a trend in the past four years. The vessel, Alboran Cognac, which measured 49 feet in length and was carrying two people, encountered the highly social apex predators, also known as killer whales, on Sunday, the service said.

Those on board reported feeling sudden blows to the hull and rudder before water started seeping into the ship. After they alerted the rescue services, a nearby oil tanker took them onboard and transported them to Gibraltar.

The yacht was left adrift and eventually sank. The incident is the latest example of recurring orca rammings around the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Europe from Africa, and off the Atlantic coast of Portugal and northwestern Spain.

Woman recalls stage dive that left her severely injured

A 24-year-old woman is working to regain function in her fingers and toes after a singer’s stage dive at a punk rock concert left her severely injured. In an exclusive interview, Bird Piché detailed what she felt as Trophy Eyes frontman John Floreani leaped backward into the audience at the April 30 show — and onto Piché. “It was like his body and my neck,” she said. Her family said she was paralyzed when she went to the hospital but has since regained basic movements of her arms and legs. “I have a long road ahead, but I’m very optimistic right now,” Piché said. Read the full story here.

Politics in Brief 

Tax hikes for China:  President Joe Biden will announce today that his administration  is raising tariffs  on $18 billion of Chinese exports, including electric vehicles, a move that escalates what economists see as a volatile trade war in the U.S. and China’s race for supremacy. 

Abortion rights:  The Arizona Supreme Court  granted a request to delay enforcement  of the state’s 1864 near-total abortion ban, narrowing the window that the law could be enforced, if at all.

‘Forever chemicals’ vote: San Francisco is poised to vote tonight to become the first U.S. city to ban so-called “forever chemicals” in protective equipment for firefighters. Nearly all firefighters’ uniforms contain these chemicals despite their links to health problems.

Want more politics news? Sign up for From the Politics Desk to get exclusive reporting and analysis delivered to your inbox every weekday evening.  Subscribe here.

Staff Pick: Instead of poker, try ‘throwing eggs’

With American investment receding amid U.S.-China tensions, Chinese financial professionals are looking closer to home for business opportunities — and learning a homegrown card game favored by local government officials who hold the purse strings. Guandan, a four-person game that translates to “throwing eggs,” has eclipsed Texas Hold’em as the must-have social skill for those looking to close deals. NBC Asia Desk fellow Larissa Gao and intern Cheng Cheng  explore the rise of the game .

—  Jennifer Jett,  Asia digital editor

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Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

When shopping for carpet cleaners, experts say to consider portability, heat and suction capabilities, various attachments and a solid warranty.  Here are the best carpet cleaners  for keeping your floors clean and stain free.

Sign up to The Selection  newsletter for exclusive reviews and shopping content from NBC Select.

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Elizabeth Robinson is a newsletter editor for NBC News, based in Los Angeles.

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Another yacht sinks in strait of Gibraltar after being rammed by orcas - what’s behind the attacks?

Orcas have struck again in the strait of Gibraltar, where they sank another yacht on Sunday morning.

A 15-metre vessel was carrying two people in Moroccan waters when an unknown number of the apex predators started ramming into it, Spain’s maritime rescue service said. After issuing an alert, the pair were picked up by a nearby oil tanker and taken to Gibraltar - while the yacht sank to the seafloor.

It is one of a number of orca rammings that have taken place in the region in recent years, with other incidents occurring off the Atlantic coast of Portugal and north-western Spain.

A Polish yacht met the same fate in the strait of Gibraltar last November. In July 2023, Portugal banned tourist boats from approaching pods of orcas.

"Given the size of adult killer whales , which can reach a maximum length of nine metres and weigh between three and five tonnes [...] more intense interaction with [...] smaller vessels, used for whale watching, could have more serious consequences," Portugal's Institute for Nature Conservation and Forestry (INCF) said at the time.

Research group Grupo Trabajo Orca Atlántica (GTOA), which tracks populations of the Iberian orca sub-species, says there have been almost 700 interactions since orca rammings were first reported in May 2020.

Experts believe them to involve a subpopulation of about 15 individuals given the designation “Gladis”. But the motivation for the strange behaviour is still a mystery. 

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Why are orcas ramming into boats in southwest Europe?

Some experts have previously said that revenge might be behind the unusual behaviour, based on the traumatic experience of an orca called White Gladis.

After an initial collision a couple of years ago - the theory goes - she started exhibiting “defensive behaviour” against vessels, which other orcas began to copy.

The highly social apex predators typically target sailboats , but don’t tend to cause much damage. Only three boats are reported to have been sunk by orcas since the behaviour began in May 2020. It’s estimated they only touch one in every 100 ships that sail through a location.

So what’s really at the root of the behaviour?

Are orcas out for revenge?

Alfredo López Fernandez, a biologist at the University of Aveiro in Portugal and representative of the GTOA, told Live Science that the orcas are picking out boats on purpose.

“We don't know the origin or the motivation, but defensive behaviour based on trauma, as the origin of all this, gains more strength for us every day,” he said.

Some researchers suspect that the orca known as White Gladis suffered a “critical moment of agony” - either being hit by a boat or becoming ensnared during illegal fishing - that flipped a behavioural switch.

"That traumatised orca is the one that started this behaviour of physical contact with the boat," López Fernandez added.

A few commentators have gone so far as to claim that a vengeful Gladis and co are teaching young orcas to break boats’ rudders. But López Fernandez - who co-authored a study on the marine mammals in 2022 - thinks it's simply spreading by imitation among the animals.

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Or are the orca visits just social?

Nobody yet knows for sure why the ramming behaviour is happening, however.

“My idea, or what anyone would give you, is informed speculation. It is a total mystery, unprecedented,” Andrew W. Trites, professor and director of Marine Mammal Research at the University of British Columbia, told CBS News.

He doesn't think the incidents are attacks; questioning why orcas would want to engage in self-destructive behaviour.

Trites’ own theory is that it’s “just playful behaviour that's gotten way out of hand.” He recalls a whale named Luca, seen off the coast of Vancouver in Canada , who swam away from his pod and started to follow boats.

"He later learned to grab onto the rudders to break them off to disable the boats, to push boats around," Trites said. "In his case, he was seeking social interactions. And he learned he could prolong the interactions by disabling the boats. And then they would have to stay with him."

It’s a funny way of making friends, perhaps. Orcas’ tactile side suggests another explanation too.

"I know of many cases where killer whales will come in and almost put their nose up to a propeller of the boat and feel the wash of the water go over them. It'd be like being in a jacuzzi," Trites told CBS.

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The behaviour could be putting sailors and whales at risk

A bit of “rough housing” (if that’s what it is) might seem like harmless fun to a whale. But the impact on vessels can be damaging and dangerous for sailors.

And conservationists are concerned. While their deaths cannot be directly linked to the boat events, four orcas belonging to the Iberian subpopulation are known to have died since the behaviour began in 2020.

There were only 39 Iberian orcas recorded in the last census in 2011, and this group is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List.

"If this situation continues or intensifies, it could become a real concern for the mariners' safety and a conservation issue for this endangered subpopulation of killer whales," López Fernandez and his co-researchers concluded in the study last year.

The Spanish Transport Ministry previously urged boaters to leave the area if they observe a change in an orca's direction or speed and report any interactions.