♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, revenge of the orcas? >> we lost both rudders. >> a rash of terrifying encounters with the fearsome predator. >> it's like you can smell their diet. >> damaging diseases of boats off the coast of spain and portugal. social media abuzz with theories. are they playing? >> they have these life-long social bonds. they have complex emotions and

communication. >> or is it something more sinister? we go out to sea, looking for answers. >> 1:00. >> whoa! >> that's four of them. that's the whole family together. plus in perfect pitch. from their living room to rockefeller center. a family blessed with musical talent. >> just one kid after the other saw the next kid learn. and there is nothing they want more than to touch that thing. >> giving new meaning to the saying "the family that plays together, stays together." >> juju: "nightline" will be right back. bug spray works best... when your family actually wears it. ♪ get odor-free eight hour protection from mosquitoes and ticks without the ick. zevo on-body repellent. but do they really? do they see that crick in your neck? that ache in your heart? will they see that funny little thing

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♪ i just wanna see you ♪ ♪ just wanna see you ♪ ♪ be brave ♪ good evening. thank you for joining us. we begin tonight with the mystery at sea. orcas having run-ins with boats off the coast of the iberian peninsula, even sinking a few. are they simply having fun, or is it an uprising? these intelligent creatures exacting revenge against man? what we discover in our search for answers. here is abc's matt gutman. >> reporter: a blast of mist and that unmistakable black dorsal fin slicing through the waves, signs that king of the ocean, the orca, aka the killer whale. one of the most fearsome

predators on the planet, these marine mammals are known for thei megawatt intelligence and raw power. recently, instilling fear in the hearts of sailors. killer whales off the coast of the iberian peninsula recently have been harassing maritime vessels. >> we lost both rudders. >> reporter: three boats have been sunk. many more have been damaged. what happens if they snap the rudder, and that induces us to taking on water? what do we do then? >> reporter: these encounters spawning a blitz of alarming press, even press about an orca uprising against humans. we know interactions with orcas can be lethal, at least in captivity. three people died in separate incidents involving tillicum, a whale at seaworld. in 2021, martin evans was helping to deliver a yacht to greece, and all of the sudden he found his vessel overtaken. >> i could see around the side of the boat a number of orca that had breached up, and

already within five to ten foot away from the boat. it was at that point i screamed out to the captain orcas, orcas. and he looked at me with this sort of incredulous look. what? orcas. at this point, the orcas are continually bashing up against the hull. the wheel is being moved violently from side to side. at this point i'm not sure exactly what's happening, because this is under the boat. but the wheel is moving so dramatically, there is a chain that would keep the steering mechanism attached. but as strong as the chain, it's not stronger than the orcas. >> reporter: so what's really going on? are these actual attacks by packs of ticked off orcas? or something else entirely? to investigate, we travel to one of the biggest natural orca habitats in the world. the sea off the coast of seattle

and the san juan islands are a hot spot for whale watching and orca research. several hundred varieties of orcas live here, and locals are proud of their mammalian mascot. >> going in the water is pretty frigid. >> reporter: our guide here is monica wheelan shields, director of the orca behavior institute. >> they're almost as long-lived as humans are. they have these life-long social bonds. they have complex emotions and communication. >> reporter: in fact, orca culture is so complex, that they follow their own fads. seriously. just as we humans have flirted with skinny jeans and frosted tips, sailor sea orcas have been known to be just as trendy. wasn't it a thing for a while i think in 1987 when orcas were wearing dead salmon on their heads? >> the dead salmon hats, yeah. >> reporter: this is a thing? >> it was thing. and it was really one of the first examples of this type of behavior where one orca here in washington state killed a fish,

didn't eat it, surfaced with it draped over their head and would and ts bam t cool thing to do for that entire summer. >> reporter: experts like monica think these boat attacks could be another one of these orca social trends not necessarily whales waging war on humanity. so this population in or around gibraltar, what's up with that? >> i'm not sure their goal is to disable the vessels. i think they're finding the rudder mechanisms intriguing because they move. people are trying to maintain steering control so you push on it. there is resistance. people are trying to push back. >> reporter: but three vessels have actually been sunk by orcas. >> that's right. >> reporter: this is more than play. >> again, i don't think their motivation is sinking the vessels or killing the humans on board. if that was their goal, i think the total would be a lot higher than three. this type of interaction has happened hundreds of times now over the last three to four years. >> reporter: and what about the

theory that they're expressing anger or vengeance? >> people are finding a lot of appeal with this vengeance theory, right? there is something almost robin hood-like about thinking that we've pushed nature far enough that they're finally going to fight back. and people really seem to be getting behind that. there just isn't evidence that that's what's happening. >> reporter: finally, it was time to see firsthand whether killer whales are friends or something to be feared. >> another vessel on the water has spotted some of our bigs killer whales. >> good to see you. >> reporter: good to see you. nice boat. >> let's go see some whales. >> reporter: monica took us to her lab, the sailor sea itself. we threaded to the islands to the orcas' playground. they're called t-99s. and they're a little bit northeast of us. >> we know where they are. we're going to see them. >> reporter: and we think there are how many out there? >> there are five. there is a mom and four kids. awesome family.

>> oh, right, 1:00. >> reporter: whoa! oh, my gosh. those are two members of that specific family. the unmistakable black dorsal fin reaching the surface. and before long, they approached our boat. thankfully, they came in peace. oh, there are three of them, right? you got to get up here. you got to get up here. oh my god, they're right here. holy crap! they're -- that's pretty amazing. they're right here. that's the baby right there. okay. in my wildest dreams, i didn't think we would be able to see killer whales this close. right here. that's four of them. the whole family together. two of the kids are somebody else. >> we were just out here with these whales. were you afraid at any point?

>> reporter: no. i was afraid they wouldn't come close enough because i wanted them to keep coming closer. i was not thinking about fear. i was thinking about excitement and the majesty of watching them. >> that's what i want people to take from a close encounter with a killer whale. these are incredible animals. they're majestic. they're charismatic, and they're worthy of our awe rather than our fear. >> reporter: in some way our fears may be the real danger. >> the concern for me with all these interactions is that even if the orcas are doing this just as a playful thing, sooner or later, it's like you play rough, sooner or later somebody gets hurt. a number of people seem to have different responses to what they would do if they were in that scenario. oh, i'd pour ten liters of diesel out the back, or i'd try to harpoon them, or i'd bring out the shock gun. the last thing you want to do is try to induce these beasts into some sort of real rage, because they are more than capable of destroying a yacht if that was their true intention. >> people are going to see a whale approaching their boat and

respond with fear, and that could mean shooting a whale. and so that's my worst nightmare, that that's where this story is going, is that people are going to start taking vengeance on the orcas for this play behavior from this one particular population somewhere completely else in the world. >> reporter: so while we may not have to worry about an impending orca uprising, we're still stuck thinking about our seafaring neighbors in black and white. >> so through the era of "free willy" and shamu, orcas morphed from killer whales into sea pandas. and now the pendulum is swinging the other way where they're becoming the killer whales again. the truth is really somewhere in issne of the ocean's top predators. they deserve our respect. they deserve their space. but they aren't out to get humans, you know. we can co-exist with them. we can observe them and have awe

at what they're doing, how they're behaving without being afraid that our lives are at risk. >> byron: our thanks to matt. coming up, perfect pitch. these siblings giving the old saying the family that plays together, stays together. put it in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when uc got unpredictable, i got rapid symptom relief with rinvoq. and left bathroom urgency behind. check. when uc got in my way, i got lasting, steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when my gastro saw damage, rinvoq helped visibly repair the colon lining. check. rapid symptom relief. lasting, steroid-free remission. and a chance to visibly repair the colon lining. check. check. and check. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin cancer; death, heart attack, stroke,

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the family of 12 on an extraordinary musical journey, serenading new york city with the sounds of classical music and gaining hundreds of thousands of fans. here is abc's stephanie ramos. ♪

>> reporter: you may have seen them on the streets of new york city. playing music at rockefeller pla plaza, or in the subway at times square. ♪ their renditions of theme songs like the one from "the mandalorian" filling up your feet. meet the de la nmott ten kids and a whole house of musical option. from 21-year-old moses to 21-year-old josiah. as soon as they're old enough to hold a string instrument, they start playing. >> just one kid after the other

saw the next kid learn. and there is nothing they want more than to touch that thing. >> reporter: the musical ear runs in the family. so far, seven of the siblings have perfect pitch. can i quiz you guys? >> no problem. >> reporter: okay. let's give you a note. ♪ >> c. >> reporter: c, let's do one more. this is fun. i can do this all day. ♪ >> a. >> reporter: that's really good. i'm super impressed. >> reporter: mark and amber met at their church in california. as their family grew, so did the children's musical ability and their social media fame. now the family has almost 700,000 followers across instagram, youtube, and tiktok. thousands tuning in to live streams like this one. but with exposure can come scrutiny. what do you think about those

folks that aren't very positive, you know, when they see you out there. >> i think they just don't understand. they haven't had a chance to observe us up close and see what we're actually about. >> a lot of people think that we don't enjoy music, that we're being forced to do it, but we really are very passionate about it. >> reporter: the family, who are devout christians, turn heads on the streets and subways of new york city. ♪ [ applause ] >> reporter: they just moved here from california last year to further their children's musical training. >> they want to achieve. they want to get into certain schools and do certain things. i'm all for it. we'll do whatever we possibly can to help them get there. >> reporter: josiah, the oldest, just complete his sophomore year here at the manhattan school of music. three of the other children are at juilliard, arguably the best classical music school in the country. pearl, the oldest daughter and

viola virtuoso is in college on a full scholarship. what is that like for you, being able to say you attend such a prestigious music school? >> it's been a dream since i was little to go there. and so getting in was like a really big -- like accomplishment. >> reporter: her sister naomi and her brother noah are in the precollege program, which meets weekly on saturdays. anna, chloe and elijah also applied last year, but didn't get in. >> it was really crushing for them, because they -- >> more so for elijah. >> more so for elijah, but also for the girls. >> reporter: 17-year-old elijah is a cello player who skateboards in his free time. his family calls him the showman of the family. even appeared on "america's got talent" when he was 14. ♪ >> i know for me, not being accepted into the precollege program last year was really like an eye-opener. and that's kind of that moment

where i want to do this forever. >> reporter: he and his two sisters anna and chloe are auditions for the juilliard precollege program again, doing everything they can to prepare. on the day of the auditions, the pressure reaches fever pitch. >> i didn't mess up as bad as last year. >> the pressure is not coming from us. it really is internal, because i'm actually the one pulling the reins back, you know what? it would be really cool if you guys can get in, but it's not that big of a deal. >> reporter: the children are home-schooled and then practice for three hours a day in their five-bedroom rental house in harlem. >> somebody will get to the room first, and oh, man, i was just about to practice. of course, that's never really true. >> if you're not fighting over the bathroom necessarily, but over the practice room. >> yes. >> reporter: the older siblings are able to play almost any song by ear. we even sat down for a little jam session, singing and playing doe ray mi from the sound of music. ♪ doe, a deer, a female may

deer, ray, a drop of golden sun ♪ ♪ mi, a name i call myself, fa, a long, long way to run ♪ >> reporter: the rent for a house like this is a big expense. the family says they had a deal for a reality show that fell through. >> so that was a real hit for us. >> reporter: mark used to work as a graphic designer, but now mark and amber say the family mostly makes money from their social media accounts. another source of income? busking. the family says that money goes to the kids' music lessons and instruments. the family often posting about it. sometimes drawing criticism. why do you think some people are bothered by this? >> people maybe conflate it with panhandling. >> right. >> i see how they get that reaction. but they're putting on a show. >> reporter: and the kids say they enjoy it and are happy they can help support the family. >> it's really cool to see

people's reactions to our music. >> and we're helping to pay for our expensive music lessons. >> reporter: it has to be comforting to know that you're with your siblings. you're not out there on your own. >> we're not like a factory spinning thread or something. >> reporter: two weeks after our interview, the family heard from juilliard. >> pleased to inform you you've been accepted. [ applause ] >> reporter: only 9-year-old chloe was accepted to the juilliard precollege program. anna, who is only 11, will audition again next year. elijah is applying to college. he says juilliard is still his top choice, and the family is growing again. pregnant with their 11th baby. >> all of our babies were born in california. so this will be a new yorker. >> reporter: mark and amber are adamant that the kids' musical ability is a product of talent and hard work, not their heavy hand. is the goal for each child to

get to the top in the classical music world? >> i want to see the kids learn that if they excel at something, they can do great things. and i don't care what it is, really. >> byron: our thanks to stephanie. coming up, madonna giving fans an update on her health and tour. this all-new ariya is an elegant ev. yeah, with 389 horsepower. ♪ and all-wheel drive. ♪ it's beautiful. it's a beast. it's electric. with an edge. oh, let's go with that. ♪ try killing bugs the worry-free way. not the other way. zevo traps use light

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try it for free at freestylelibre.us and finally tonight, madonna breaking her silence for the first time since the health scare that landeder in the icu

last month. ♪ you know that we are living in the material world and i am a material girl ♪ >> the material girl updating fans on social media, saying she is recovering and feeling better. my first thought when i woke up in the hospital was my children. my second thought was i did not want to disappoint anyone who bought tickets for my tour. the celebration tour will now kick off in october in europe. the north american leg originally slated to start this month still has to be rescheduled. and that's "nightline" for this evening. catch our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night. ♪ ♪ it was time for a nunormal with nucala. nucala is a once-monthly add-on treatment for