SO MUCH. >>> WORK IS, KILLER WHALES, HAVE BEEN DOING SOMETHING REALLY WEIRD. THEY ARE ATTACKING AND EVEN SOMETIMES THE SINKING BOATS. THE MOST RECENT INCIDENT HAPPENED ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO. THIS IS OFF THE COAST OF SPAIN WHERE THREE ORCHIDS HIT A SAILING YACHT AND SUCK IT. RESEARCHERS DON'T REALLY KNOW WHY THIS IS HAPPENING. THERE IS SPECULATION THAT THIS COULD BE -- AND GET THIS -- A SERIES OF COORDINATED ATTACKS. SO BIZARRE. JOINING US NOW IS JEFF CORWIN, A BIOLOGIST. JEFF, 15 OF THESE INCIDENTS BETWEEN ORCAS AND BOATS. IS THAT A LOT? HOW UNCOMMON IS IT FOR ORCAS TO INTERACT WITH BOATS? >> I WOULD SAY THIS IS PRETTY EXTRAORDINARY BEHAVIOR. THESE ARE INCREDIBLY INTELLIGENT CREATURES. THEY LEARN. THEY ADAPT. THEY DISCOVER. AND THEY CHANGE THE BEHAVIORS. THEY ALSO HAVE ALL THE EMOTIONS THAT HUMAN BEINGS WOULD HAVE. THEY HAVE JOY. THEY HAVE FEAR. THEY HAVE MALEVOLENCE. THEY ARE INCREDIBLY COMPLEX SOCIAL CREATURES. IN THIS CASE, WE ARE SEEING A VERY NOVEL, LEARNED BEHAVIOR. THE QUESTION IS, WHY ARE THEY ATTACKING THE SHIPS? THESE SAILING VESSELS? >> WHEN YOU START THINKING ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON, IT ALMOST PAINTS A PICTURE OF SOME FOR DECIDED THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A THREAT AND THEY HAD TO COMMUNICATE. THEY WERE IN THE SAME POD OR HAD TO COMMUNICATE BACK WITH OTHER ORCAS. IS THERE A CHANCE THIS IS ALL THE SAME ORCAS? DOES IT SEEM LIKE IT IS HAPPENING OUTSIDE OF THE FAMILY UNIT? >> THIS IS LIKELY WHAT WE CALL A RESIDENTIAL POD, A RESIDENTIAL EXTENDED FAMILY GROUP. THIS IS A BEHAVIOR, JUST LIKE HUMAN BEINGS, THROUGH TRIAL AND ERROR. THROUGH LEARNING AND FOR DISCOVERY. WHAT IS LIKELY IS THAT ONE FOR IS TEACHING ANOTHER FOR, LIKELY TEACHING. THERE'S TWO THEORIES. ONE THEORY IS THAT IT'S OUT OF BEING RAMBUNCTIOUS, PLAYFUL BEHAVIOR. THEY ARE VERY POWERFUL, AND THERE CAN BE DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES. THE OTHER IS THAT IT IS BECAUSE OF THE TRAUMATIC EVENT, THIS ONE FEMALE ORCA IN PARTICULAR. SHE HAD THIS TRAUMATIC EVENT. NOW, SHE TAKES A SAILBOAT AS A THREAT, AND SHE HAS TAUGHT THIS DEFENSE AND OFFENSIVE BEHAVIOR TO OTHER MEMBERS OF HER POD. >> IT'S CRAZY. ORCAS, I GREW UP WATCHING THREE LITTLE -- FREE WILLY. WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH A WHALE OF THE OCEAN. HER INTERACTION WITH HUMANS. YOU ARE SUCH AN INCREDIBLE RESOURCE WHEN IT COMES TO QUAILS. THERE ARE SOME VIDEOS YOU HAVE OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC WHITE WHALE. WE COULD PLAY THAT. WE LOVE TO SEE WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT. >> ABSOLUTELY. THIS IS SO IMPORTANT. WE MAY BE THE LAST GENERATION TO SEE THIS CREATURE BEFORE OUR EYES. THIS IS THE NORTH ATLANTIC WHITE WHALE. THIS IS FOOTAGE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE. THEY ARE THE FRONT-LINE TRY TO SAVE THESE WHALES. RIGHT NOW, WE ONLY HAVE ABOUT 340 SURVIVING QUAILS. THIS YEAR, THE POPULATION IS ABOUT TO COLLAPSE, FLIP TO WHAT COULD BE EXTINCTION BECAUSE THEY ONLY PRODUCE A LIVING LIVING CALVES. THEY ARE THE BRINK OF DISAPPEARING. YOU CAN SEE IN THE FOOTAGE, ONE OF THE REASONS THAT IS WHY THEY ARE DISAPPEARING. THEY GET ENTANGLED IN FISHING LINE, AND THEY SUFFER TREMENDOUSLY. THEY ALSO GET HIT BY SHIPS WHEN A MIGRANTS -- WHEN THEY MIGRATE. THOSE FACTORS, ALONG WITH CLIMATE CHANGE, IS DRIVING THE SPECIES TO THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION. WE MAY LOSE IT WITHIN OUR LIFETIME. >> 11 OFFSPRING FOR POSSIBLY THE ENTIRE SPECIES.
Awww cute, they were trying to play with the boat!