‘We completely freaked out’: Orcas are attacking boats in Europe again
The orcas along the Spanish coast again attack boats, leaving destroyed rudder and crews blocked in their wake.
A small population of orcas (Orcinus Orca), or whale killer, has developed a penchant for harmful boats Off the Iberian peninsula in southwest Europe in recent years. Researchers always study this behavior, but they think that orcas are probably fun rather than aggressive.
On August 21, Orcas torn the rudder of a German sailboat in the vigo estuary in Galicia, Spanish newspaper Faro de Vigo reported. The orcas then continued to play with the sailboat, which they struck when he was towed safe.
Ataque de Orcas en Costa da vela a varios veloros prodaliendo daños in the pala del timón a uno. The patrullera of #GC Da Protección Hasta llegada embarcación salvamento maritimo that inicia remolque a puerto.patarullera reiziza protección y ocerca proa, intentando alejarlas. pic.twitter.com/u9kayxbuf2August 21, 2025
The Civil Guard of Pontevedra, a Spanish agency for the application of the law, shared a video Saiboat rescues on the social platform X and wrote that the Orcas had attacked several sailboats. We don’t know exactly how many boats have been targeted before this position, but there have also been incidents since.
For example, Saturday August 30), Faro de Vigo reported That Orcas destroyed the rudder from a traditional sailing ship off O Grove in the Estuary of Arouse and opened a leak in another sailboat off the Ons in the Estuary of Pontevedra.
Valentín Otero, the owner of the targeted ship at O Grove, told Faro de Vigo that he had heard two shots against his ship before locating a pair of orcas. Otero and his crew indicated that there was a larger orca measuring about 23 feet (7 meters) long accompanied by a smaller orca swimming next door.
“The truth is that we were very afraid; in fact, we completely panicked when we realized that the orcas struck the boat,” said Otero in a translated statement.
In relation: Look at an orcas pod pretending to drown one of their their macabre training session
Iberian orcas are an orc sub-population in critical danger less than 40 individuals. The group attacks boats off the coasts of Spain and Portugal since 2020. Although certain initial reports suggest that Iberian Orcas could take revenge on ships, it was rejected by many orca experts.
The meetings often involve young orcas going directly for rudder on the underside of the sailboats. Scientists have suggested that the orcas are Adolescents probably annoyed With more free time from the Atlantic Blue Tuna (Thunnus Thynnus)) The populations – their favorite prey in the region – have recovered, which means that they have to spend less time hunting.
The behavior of orcas is diversified and complex. Researchers observed the species engaged in social ritualsgently nibbling the languages of the other To fall side by side as if they were in a Mosh aquatic pit. Different orc populations have also their own dialectssimilar to human language, and can develop their own unique “modes”, as swimming with died salmon on the head.
There is no reason to suspect that Iberian orcas target people on board boats. Orcs are ferocious predators known to hunt a variety of different prey, from tuna to seals, sharks and even whales. However, each population has a special regime, and none of them involves eating humans. There is only one handful of documented cases of wild Orcas attacking humansAnd all of these reported incidents are delivered with significant warnings, such as an orca that probably gives a person with a seal.
