- A group of killer whales reportedly attacked and sank a small sailing vessel off the coast of Portugal.
- Shortly after, a killer whale crashes into another small vessel nearby.
- Scientists are investigating why there are so many killer whale attacks in the area.
A pod of killer whales reportedly attacked a yacht off the coast of Portugal on July 31 and targeted another vessel in the same area hours later.
In the first incident, described by local media as “much worse than usual”, about seven miles off the coast of Sines, Portugal, a killer whale crashed into a small sailing boat with five people on board.
Killer whale attacks have immobilized sailing ships, but in this case they caused so much damage that the ship began to sink, according to local media.
According to The Sun, the five crew members who were on vacation boarded the life raft and radioed for help. A nearby fishing boat was able to rescue them, according to a Portuguese Navy statement.
Unusually, another killer whale attack occurred nearby just hours later.
Newsweek reported that the killer whale’s second attack involved a small sailboat with two passengers on board.
According to local media Portugal Resident, passengers who were sleeping at the time of the attack were en route from Lisbon to the Algarve.
Residents of Portugal say the killer whale grew to be 26 feet long and was immobilized after colliding with a boat and biting the rudder. She was towed to a dry dock.
According to Portuguese residents, more than 200 killer whale attacks on ships have been recorded since 2020 along Portugal and Spain’s Iberian Peninsula.
Pacific Northwest killer whale (Southern resident killer whale).
Monica Wieland Shields/Shutterstock
Scientists are investigating an increase in killer whale attacks to determine whether they are acting out of curiosity, mischief, or revenge, the news agency said.
Insiders previously reported in 2020 on a series of aggressive actions by killer whales along the coasts of Spain and Portugal. At the time, experts told The Observer that the killer whale may have been attacking on purpose, possibly indicating a high level of stress.
