A tourist boat sank after being attacked by a pod of orcas off the coast of Portugal, with passengers experiencing moments of panic and anxiety.
The sailboat, carrying five people, sank near Fonte da Telha beach after being attacked last Saturday.
A video shared by Mercedes-Benz Oceanic Lounge shows an orca repeatedly hitting the side of the boat before it begins to sway and sink, with a witness shouting “Oh, my God.”
All five crew members were rescued by a Nautic Squad Club boat.
A second encounter with the pod of orcas was recorded later that day in Cascais Bay, where four people were safely removed from their boat without injury.
The Portuguese Maritime Authority said it received the first alert at 12:30 p.m. “about the appearance of orcas.”
The crews of the Cascais lifeboat station and the Lisbon Port Authority were immediately mobilised. Upon arrival at the scene, it was found that the crew members of the sunken vessel were in good health and did not require medical attention,” the Authority said.
Some witnesses said they saw four orcas, although according to the captain, only one of the whales hit the rudder, as reported by The Telegraph newspaper.
A common phenomenon
These two incidents come just days after another group of killer whales attacked two boats off the coast of Spain.
Both incidents, described by the boat crews as “very frightening,” took place in the waters off Galicia, in northwestern Spain, where numerous groups of whales have been spotted in recent weeks.
The first attack took place just off the coast of O Grove, located at the mouth of the Arousa River and extremely popular with tourists, while the second took place north of the island of Ons.
The waves destroyed the rudder of the first boat and caused water to leak into the second.
Theories about the attacks
Since May 2020, researchers have recorded hundreds of incidents involving killer whales attacking boats near the Iberian Peninsula. And while researchers are unsure why killer whales have been attacking boats so frequently lately, various theories have been put forward to explain this increase in behavior.
Some experts speculate that it may be a playful expression of the animals’ curiosity.
Others, however, fear that a “critical moment of distress,” such as a collision, may have triggered the orcas’ aggression toward the boats. An injured orca may have initiated this behavior, motivating the other killer whales.
Attacks tend to occur between May and August.
Orcas off the coast of the Iberian Peninsula are usually between 4.8 and 6.4 meters long. They are significantly smaller than Antarctic orcas, which can reach 8.8 meters.
Carnivores can reach lengths of up to 9 meters and weigh up to six tons.
Here is the video from the moment of the attack
