Orca Gangs Are Attacking Yachts and the Memes are Killer

Mel Dawn

Jun 22, 2023 11:30 AM EDT

Two weeks ago, a sailor was stranded on the island of Gibraltar after a crew of killer whales attacked his yacht and managed to rip off its rudders. This was just one incident in a string of similar attacks, and although no one can say for sure what is causing these animals to act up, many are theorizing that it might have something to do with a whale called White Gladis—a traumatized matriarch who has possibly been teaching young pods of whales how to rip rudders off of boats. Could White Gladis be orca-strating the attacks against luxury vessels? Does she know anything about the whereabouts of the missing Titanic submersible? There's a lot to unpack, but one thing is for sure—the internet is Team Orca all the way, and the proof is in the memes. The jokes really took off after Atlantic staff writer Jacob Stern wrote a piece entitled, "Killer Whales Are Not Our Friends (Stop rooting for the orcas ramming boats.)" It didn't take long for nearly all of Twitter to drag Mr. Stern's name through the reef and even suggest the piece was secretly written by either a boat or a leopard seal. We've collected some of the most killer orca memes that would trigger the likes of Captain Ahab.