A New Zealand man has been fined $600 for jumping off a boat and belly-flopping near an orca and its calf. The incident happened in February off the coast of Devonport, Auckland. The video shows the 50-year-old man leaping from a boat as onlookers laughed and encouraged him. He splashed down near a male orca with its calf, shouting, “I touched it,” and asking, “Did you get it?” before trying to touch the whale again. The spectators on the boat confirmed they captured the moment on video.
The video was quickly reported to the New Zealand Department of Conservation, which led to the man being fined. Hayden Loper, an investigator with the department, said that experts were “genuinely stunned” by the man’s actions. Loper called the behavior “stupid” and showed “a shocking disregard for the welfare of the orca.”
The man is lucky that the man wasn’t killed because orcas in southern Europe are taking down boats.
Orcas have been causing problems in southwest Europe, particularly near the Strait of Gibraltar. Since 2020, a group of orcas has been attacking and sinking boats. The latest attack happened on May 12, when orcas sank a 49-foot yacht named Alboran Cognac in the Strait of Gibraltar. The yacht’s two-person crew called for help and were rescued by a passing oil tanker, but the yacht sustained serious damage and eventually sank.
NEW: 50-year-old man fined $600 for bodyslamming a Killer Whale off the coast of New Zealand.
The orca was swimming with a calf when the man decided to jump off the boat.
“I touched it!” the man said.
According to the Department of Conservation, the man could have been… pic.twitter.com/8I4Pj9IRL7
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 21, 2024
These attacks are believed to be carried out by a subpopulation of around 40 orcas that live off the coasts of Spain, Portugal, Morocco, and Gibraltar. Most attacks occur between May and August. This year, some orcas were seen circling a boat in northern Spain, suggesting the behavior may be spreading.
Spanish authorities have warned boaters to stay close to the coast and avoid stopping if approached by orcas. Since the attacks began in 2020, sailors have reported around 700 interactions with orcas, ranging from circling and nudging vessels to ramming and sinking them.
During these attacks, orcas often damage or rip off the boat’s rudder, making it impossible to steer. Researchers think this behavior is learned, as eyewitnesses have seen orcas teaching others how to do it. So far, at least 15 orcas have been linked to attacks in the region. Researchers believe the attacks may have started with a single female orca named White Gladis, who may have been pregnant at the time. It is still unclear what triggered these attacks.
Below is a video of an attack that destroyed a 66 foot boat.
In the early morning Thursday, killer whales smashed into a sailboat off the southern coast of Spain, puncturing its hull and damaging its rudder. Spanish authorities raced to save the sinking vessel, according to Reuters, but it was in such disrepair it had to be towed ashore.… pic.twitter.com/b7B9LXy5MJ
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 3, 2023
