Old Thom, a North Atlantic orca known for being the only killer whale regularly sighted in the Gulf of Maine, wants a lawyer.
Thom is refusing to answer questions relating to what he can spill about a growing incidence of orcas in the Northeast Atlantic ramming fishermen’s boats.
Some fishermen have a theory as to what may be behind the recent spate of orcas attacking their vessels.
As outlandish as it may sound, the thinking is that orcas are being taught by animal-rights activists to ram fishermen’s boats.
In the absence of any real plausible scientific or biological explanation, why not go with the fishermen, who actually have a sixth sense.
In an article for a British news website, writer Daniel Moore raised the possibility of environmentalists being behind the orcas’ defensive behavior.
“Orcas keep ramming boats in the North Atlantic And Fishermen Blame Eco Activism While Others Call It Desperate Whales Defending Their Seas,” was the headline on Moore’s piece.
“Fishermen mutter that eco campaigns have rewired the whales’ behavior,” Moore wrote.
“Scientists float theories that feel painfully human: play, curiosity, learned behaviour after a traumatic event to a matriarch, or the stress of chasing scarce tuna,” Moore added. “None of that proves a link to activism, despite the talk.”
Moore says orcas are “social learners” and that their “habits can race through a pod like gossip through a village.“
“People, too, reach for simple stories when the sea starts answering back. The result is a blame game with teeth,” he mused.
Rolling Stone recently published an in-depth article detailing how orcas seem to be targeting boats passing through the Strait of Gibraltar.
When these Iberian orcas target a boat, they begin swimming into it, ramming their heads into its rudder until it capsizes.
“With each crash,” Rolling Stone reporter Tomas Weber wrote, “the boat jolted into a new direction.”
The orca-driven boat bashings have scientists perplexed. They simply don’t have an explanation for whatever the orcas are really up to.
Whether the orcas are taking orders from environmentalists or not, at least Old Thom may have a good alibi.
He is arguably the only killer whale who is often seen in New England waters – far from the scene of the crime.
