Orca attacks on sailing boats: A filmmaker reveals the puzzle!

Orca attacks on sailing boats: A filmmaker reveals the puzzle!

The renowned filmmaker Michael Schumacher took a fascinating adventure! In 2020 he heard of mysterious whale attacks on sailing boats on the Iberian coast and on the street of Gibraltar. These reports aroused his interest, and in November last year he contacted Dr. Renaud de Stephanis, the only marine biologist who can research with orcas in the wild. "It was immediately clear to me that he was my key figure," said Schumacher.

After months of waiting, Schumacher was finally able to travel to Tarifa in Andalusia in May. The adventure began there, at the southernmost point of the European mainland, where most Orca attacks took place. In Tarifa he also met the pioneer Katharina Heyer, who has been fighting for the protection of marine mugs and gave valuable insights into the behavior of the orcas.

The secrets of the killer whales

Schumacher and his team discovered that a special group of orcas, the barbate group, is responsible for the attacks. This group consists of only 15 animals! "In my recordings you can see them in peaceful action," reports Schumacher. But the dramatic attacks are also shown in the film, based on materials of fishermen and skippers. The orcas do not consider the boats as enemies, but as a toy - a fascinating but also worrying behavior.

The documentary illuminates how the overfishing of the waters caused the orcas to interact with sailing boats. "The waters were overfished so that the sword whales did not have enough food," explains Schumacher. The Orca population rose with fewer fishermen, but the animals found no playmates. "Some of them started to play with sailing boats." Schumacher warns: "What happens if people intervene too much in the living space of animals, once again shows nature."