Is that close enough for you?
The tale of Captain Ahab and the white whale has been after a whale apparently attacked a yacht. How likely is an intentional whale attack? 快猫短视频 has the answers.
What happened?
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On Sunday, a juvenile, 40-tonne right whale breached next to a 10-metre yacht sailing near Blouberg, off the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. The , before sliding back into the sea, reportedly leaving blubber and skin on the deck of the boat.
Why would the whale do that?
Probably it simply made a mistake, breaching near the boat without meaning to strike. Although there are many known cases of whales attacking ships, it is highly unlikely that this one meant to hit the yacht.
Juveniles are like teenage drivers 鈥� they are more likely to misjudge things and have accidents than adults, says marine scientist of the University of Rhode Island in Narragansett. 鈥淚n the studies of entanglement-scar acquisition in North Atlantic right whales, a large majority of entanglements happen to juveniles.鈥�
In any case, right whales are not known to be particularly aggressive, says , founder of the Tethys Research Institute, a marine conservation organisation based in Milan, Italy, and a former International Whaling Commission representative for Italy. 鈥淎t most, a juvenile may be inquisitive.鈥�
For example, in 2001, in Hawaii, a 6-metre, 15-tonne baby humpback whale leaped onto the back of a whale-watching boat, breaking a passenger鈥檚 knee. At the time, the tour guide said: 鈥淛uvenile whales are pretty high-strung and they don鈥檛 know much yet.鈥�
Are whales known to breach or jump out of the water to attack?
The function of whales鈥� jumping and breaching is not well understood. These acrobatics may signal aggression or irritation, but they may also simply be down to the exuberance of a youngster.
鈥淪uch behaviours may have meanings other than deliberate attacks,鈥� says , president of Tethys. 鈥淚f there was any aggressive intention, it remains to be seen why the whale reacted as it did 鈥� had it been harassed for too long?鈥�
The South African is investigating whether the yacht had been 鈥渉arassing鈥� the whale 鈥� repeatedly approaching the animal closer than the 300-metre legal limit. According to news accounts, the whale had been 鈥渓obtailing鈥� 鈥� slapping the water surface with its tail 鈥� and breaching before the last breach when it landed on the sailboat.
So what does an intentional attack look like?
Cetaceans displaying aggressiveness towards a boat are more likely to ram it with the rostrum or give it a tail slap.
Perhaps the most famous example occurred in 1820 when the 218-tonne whaling ship Essex was rammed by a sperm whale and sank. The incident inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick.
Which species is most likely to attack?
The killer whale. In the news earlier this year when a captive orca attacked and killed its trainer, killer whales are highly territorial. If an approaching boat does not heed the whales鈥� warning signals, they may attack. In one dramatic case, six people were left after killer whales sank their yacht.
Although it makes the news, it鈥檚 rare for a whale to attack a boat, let alone sink one, considering how often boats disturb and strike whales in virtually all oceans.
When this article was first posted, we incorrectly stated that the incident happened near Cape Horn, not the Cape of Good Hope.
