Officials said at least 24 incidents have been reported so far this year.
But the Atlantic Orca Working Group, a team of Spanish and Portuguese marine life researchers who study killer whales near the Iberia Peninsula, says that these incidents were first reported three years ago. In 2020, the group registered 52 such events, some of which resulted in damaged rudders. That increased to 197 in 2021 and to 207 in 2022.
According to the group, these killer whales are a small group of about 35 whales that spend most of the year near the Iberian coast in pursuit of red tuna. The so-called Iberian orcas average from five to 6½ meters in length, compared to the orcas of Antarctica which can reach nine meters . Biologist Alfredo López, of the University of Aveiro and member of the research group, said that the incidents are rare — and enticingly odd.
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