Since 2020, there have been about 500 encounters between orcas and boats, Alfredo López Fernandez, a coauthor of a 2022 study in the journal Marine Mammal Science, told NPR earlier this year. At least three boats have sunk, though there is no record of an orca killing a human in the wild.

Documented cases of whales sinking ships are historically rare but scientifically significant. The most famous instance is the 1820 sinking of the whaleship Essex by a massive sperm whale, an event that directly inspired Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. Another well-documented historical case is the 1851 sinking of the Ann Alexander. In modern times, the frequency of such interactions has increased, particularly with Orcas (Killer Whales). Since 2020, a specific sub-population of Iberian orcas in the Strait of Gibraltar has been interacting with sailing vessels. By early 2026, researchers have recorded that these orcas have sunk at least five boats (mostly sailing yachts) and damaged hundreds of others. While "attacks" by baleen whales like Humpbacks are usually accidental collisions, sperm whales and orcas have shown deliberate behaviors that can result in the loss of a vessel, though human fatalities in these modern incidents remain extremely low.