11/06/2026
The Iberian orca population is one of the most endangered orca groups in the world. Fewer than 40 individuals have been counted. They live in the waters off Portugal, Spain, and Morocco, and they've been tracked by researchers for years, with individuals named and their behaviour documented in detail.
In 2020, something changed. Reports began arriving from sailors about orcas approaching boats deliberately and making contact. Not occasional curious passes, but sustained interactions, some lasting minutes, targeting the rudder with a coordinated approach involving multiple animals. By 2023, nearly 700 such interactions had been logged. Some ended with boats needing towing. Several ended with boats sinking.
The individual at the centre of the leading theory is a female called White Gladis. Researchers believe she was traumatised at some point before 2020, possibly in a collision with a boat or an entanglement with fishing gear. The working hypothesis is that this trauma altered her behaviour toward vessels, and that other members of her pod began imitating her. That kind of behavioural copying within a pod is well-documented in orca groups, which pass hunting techniques and social habits through generations in patterns researchers describe as distinct cultural lineages.
The more significant detail is what happened next. Adult orcas have been observed guiding calves toward boats during interactions, appearing to demonstrate the technique and give younger animals opportunities to practise. The behaviour is now being actively taught to the next generation.
No humans have been killed or seriously harmed. But the population is so small that any collision between what the orcas are doing and what authorities might feel compelled to do about it carries real weight. Fewer than 40 animals. A behaviour that may have started with a single traumatic event. And now, it's in the calves.
