A flock of six or seven killer whales surrounded the ship off the coast of Portugal and rammed it for two hours, reports the Newsweek edition.
In October, a British yachtsman David Smith (David Smith) ferried a ship from France to Gibraltar. Six or seven killer whales, also known as killer whales, approached the 13-meter yacht 30 kilometers off the coast of Portugal and began ramming the vessel.
“It’s not easy to scare me, but it was scary. The most active were the young killer whales – the smallest. The steering wheel turned very fast with each collision,” Smith said.
The team contacted the Portuguese Coast Guard via satellite phone and reported what was happening. They were advised to turn off the engine and lower the sail.
Most of all, at that moment, the yachtsman was worried that the killer whales could dislodge part of the ship, known as the rudder stock. “If it broke, we would have real problems. I was ready to ask the Portuguese Coast Guard to send a helicopter to evacuate us,” he said.
After about two hours, the killer whales suddenly swam away.
This incident is one of 40 such mysterious encounters of ships with killer whales over the past six months. Oceanologists are still trying to figure out what could be the reason for the attacks of killer whales on ships – before that, such cases were rare. Some scientists argue that for killer whales, ramming boats is more a game than trying to harm people or damage ships. More research is needed to understand why animals behave strangely.
Previously it was reported that killer whales attacked a British yacht near Cape Finisterre ( Spain). Killer whales did not leave people alone for about 45 minutes.