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File photo: An orca bumping one of the yachts in an endurance sailing race, off the Straits of Gibraltar
A pod of killer whales sank a sailing yacht after pummelling it for almost an hour on Halloween in the latest in a spate of attacks in the Strait of Gibraltar.
The Grazie Mamma, a mid-sized sailing yacht owned by Polish cruise company Morskie Mile, was attacked by an unknown number of orcas for about 45 minutes off the coast of Morocco. It’s the fourth attack in the area in just two years.
The crew of the yacht were rescued, the Polish company who operate the craft say, and are “safe, unharmed, and sound” after the incident.
In a statement, the company said: “Despite attempts to bring the yacht to port by the captain, crew and rescuers from Search and Rescue, port tugs and the Moroccan Navy, the unit [yacht] sank near the entrance to the port of Tanger Med.”
Apparently led by a female dubbed ‘White Gladis’, a marauding pod of orcas has been attacking seafarers in the region since at least 2020.
White Gladis may have taught the other killer whales to assault boats in “revenge” after being hit by a vessel or getting tangled in fishing nets, the Telegraph reports.
The phenomenon has so far been limited to the Strait of Gibraltar and the Portuguese coast, apart from a single instance of a yacht in Scotland being rammed by a lone killer whale more than 2,000 miles away.
There have been 47 reports of interactions with orcas in the region this year so far, although not all ended in attacks on boats.
In 2020 and 2021 the “season” for orca attacks was between June and October, but last year the Cruising Association recorded killer whale activity continuing through winter at a reduced level.
Many of the interactions follow the same script, with the orcas headbutting or biting the rudder before losing interest when the boat stops moving.
On 2 May, six orcas slammed into a Bavaria 46 yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar, near Tangier.
The hour-long attack left Cambridge, UK, couple Janet Morris, 58, a business consultant, and Stephen Bidwell, 58, a photographer, who were on board for a sailing course, in awe.
“It’s an experience I will never forget,” Mr Bidwell said.
“I kept reminding myself we had a 22-tonne boat made of steel, but seeing three of them coming at once, quickly and at pace with their fins out of the water was daunting,” he said.
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