There is at least one well-documented case of a pod of orcas understanding enough about people and boats for them to to initiate a mutually-beneficial and reciprocal understanding of how to cooperate in hunting whales.
Given this, I think it is conceivable that these orcas may have achieved some sort of understanding of fishing boats as competing with them for their food, and developed a hostility towards boats as a result.
IIRC, not all orca pods hunt whales or other marine mammals, and many are generally fish eaters. I would not be at all comfortable in a life raft or similar boat in the presence of orcas that do hunt seals or emperor penguins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whales_of_Eden,_New_Sou...
Given this, I think it is conceivable that these orcas may have achieved some sort of understanding of fishing boats as competing with them for their food, and developed a hostility towards boats as a result.
IIRC, not all orca pods hunt whales or other marine mammals, and many are generally fish eaters. I would not be at all comfortable in a life raft or similar boat in the presence of orcas that do hunt seals or emperor penguins.