Killer whales attack yacht during international race - The Telegraph

Three orcas have attacked a yacht in the middle of an international race – the latest example of killer whales targeting craft in the Straits of Gibraltar.

At least three boats have already been sunk this summer after a killer whale, called White Gladis, and other orcas butted their rudders.

Some believe White Gladis was traumatised by a collision with a boat or was trapped in illegal fishing nets and is now instructing other orcas how to attack craft.

The crew of the Ocean Race’s Team JAJO faced a terrifying few minutes as they approached the Straits of Gibraltar and became the latest target of White Gladis on Thursday.

“This was a scary moment,” said Jelmer van Beek, the skipper. “Three orcas came straight at us and started hitting the rudders. Impressive to see the orcas, beautiful animals, but also a dangerous moment for us as a team.”

Dramatic footage taken from the boat showed the killer whales stalking the Dutch yacht before ramming and biting its twin rudders.

An orca known as White Gladis has been attacking boats in the Straits of Gibraltar

Mr van Beek followed guidance for orca attacks and stopped the boat as his crew banged on the hull of the yacht to drive them off. “We took down the sails and slowed down the boat as quickly as possible, and luckily after a few attacks they went away,” he said.

Team JAJO was in second place in the six-month, 37,000-mile Ocean Race when the whales struck.  The yacht is now in fourth place but is confident of making up time.

The Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team also reported a run-in with orcas. Organisers said there there were no injuries or damage to either boat.

It was the latest example of a phenomenon that now appears to be spreading beyond the Straits of Gibraltar and the Portuguese coast.

There has been a steady increase in the number of orca attacks since the behaviour was first noted three years ago. There have been more than 20 incidents in May alone.

Earlier this week, an orca rammed into a yacht in the North Sea off Shetland, the first such incident outside the region. Experts suggested the “fad” was leapfrogging to northern waters from the Mediterranean and pointed out that pods of whales were highly mobile.

Orcas are highly intelligent social creatures that live in pods and are capable of communicating with each other to share information.

The crew was rescued by a fishing vessel after the whale attack Credit: Jefferson Sanguna/AFP

The rescued passengers scramble from their lifeboat Credit: Jefferson Sanguna/AFP

Meanwhile, a whale capsized a sailing boat in the Pacific Ocean, leaving its passengers stranded at sea.

The eight-person crew, all Danes, abandoned the 51ft boat in a lifeboat. One of the passengers, a girl, used a satellite phone to call her father, who contacted Denmark’s search and rescue authority.

The satellite phone showed the lifeboat’s position to be somewhere between Peru and French Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean at 6.30am on Wednesday.

The Danish rescue agency contacted the authorities in Honolulu, Hawaii, who launched a search and rescue mission.

The crew was rescued around midnight by a fishing vessel and put on a container ship which is heading for Papeete, Tahiti, and scheduled to arrive on June 26.

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2023-06-23 14:41:00Z
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