By now you have probably heard the startling reports that, beginning in 2020, orcas- also commonly called killer whales- off the straits of Gibraltar, started attacking sailboats. While Orcas have not historically generally represented danger to people or boats, this new behavior isn’t the first time that people at sea have been terrorized by massive creatures of the deep. In fact, the recorded. history of whales attacking boats goes back a very long time.
When Whales Attack
In 1906, a famed explorer saw something on the horizon that would lead an expedition of men to search for a magnificent land they hoped would be full of new and undiscovered treasures for science.
One famous dolphin lived near the shores of New Zealand in the late 1800s, and swam alongside hundreds of ships, becoming a beloved figure to locals and foreigners alike, and described as ”the best known fish in the world.”
It was relatively common in the middle ages for Kings, royals, and various other titled men to die in combat, and they were at least usually expected to fight personally. Despite the dangers of medieval combat and the expectations of nobility, however, many at the highest levels of aristocracy died in less than noble mundane accidents, and even in embarrassing circumstances.
Patent S-5292X, “Improvements in method and means for utilizing nuclear energy” by Klaus Fuchs and John Von Neumann is part of the story of two brilliant scientists, of one of the greatest scientific programs ever undertaken, and of Cold War espionage and intrigue.
On May 26, 1981, during night operations off Pensacola, Florida, a Marine Corps EA-6B "Prowler" crashed on the deck of the Nuclear powered Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, igniting a fire and causing a string of explosions that resulted in the death of 14 members of her crew.