Previous reported interactions between orcas and sailboats followed a clear pattern, with the animals losing interest and swimming away once they had broken the rudder.
Orcas started behaving unusually and attacking boats in 2020. Since July 2020, there have been 744 reported encounters, 505 of which involved contact between the animals and the ship, according to the Atlantic Orca Working Group (GTOA). One in five interactions have prevented boats from sailing on and three have ended in vessels sinking.
Most of these interactions ended in the orcas losing interest in the boat once they'd broken its rudder. But during the recent attack on the night of May 24, the orca pod continued to stalk the yacht "Mustique" even after damaging the vessel. It is unclear whether this marks a shift in the orcas' learned pattern of aggressive behaviors towards sailboats.
Comment: It's certainly notable that this began around 2020, and that the incidents have increased in both frequency and severity. One theory is this learned behaviour has evolved, but, considering other changes in the animal kingdom, it may be that these shifts we're seeing in animal behaviour may be related to the shifts we're seeing in our planetary environment: