Posted on 09/20/2025 11:58:45 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Like from a horror movie, in a chilling escalation of ongoing orca-boat interactions, a yacht belonging to a Lisbon-based sailing club sank off the coast near Costa da Caparica on Saturday, September 13, in the afternoon after being repeatedly rammed by a pod of killer whales, according to Portuguese maritime authorities and eyewitness accounts.
A second vessel attempting to help the crew was also damaged in a separate incident nearby, leaving crews from both boats requiring rescue operations. The events, captured on video and widely shared across Portuguese social media, show the persistent and growing threat posed by these highly intelligent marine mammals in the region’s waters and reopen questions into why they are doing it.
Yacht sinking by killer whales started early without warning The initial attack occurred around 12.30pm local time, approximately five nautical miles off Fonte da Telha beach, south of Lisbon. The yacht in question, a sailboat from the Nautic Squad club in Oeiras, suffered such serious damage to its rudder and hull after just “two or three knocks” from the orcas, a nearby dolphin-watching tour skipper who diverted his vessel to help said, “I saw the sailboat moving erratically. Then I realised it was being attacked by an orca,” Filipe told the Portuguese newspaper Notícias ao Minuto. He said that the interaction lasted only minutes but was absolutely devastating: “We tried to refloat it, but the damage was too great, and it slowly sank because too much water was entering… Everything took a little more than an hour—about five minutes of interaction, then the time for water entering and the boat sinking.”
Most Read on Euro Weekly News
This forgotten Andalusian airport is back from the dead
New DGT car stickers in Spain: what drivers need to know before 2026
EasyJet passenger dies mid-flight on holiday trip to Lanzarote The National Maritime Authority (AMN) confirmed that lifeguards from the Cascais station and the Lisbon Harbour Master’s Office were mobilised immediately, making sure all aboard were safe and no medical assistance was needed at the time.
Another yacht attacked by killer whales on same day Compounding the drama, a second sailboat with five people aboard was struck by orcas about five nautical miles away, off Fonte da Telha. Its rudder was shattered, rendering it unsteerable, though the boat remained afloat. The AMN reported that it was successfully towed to the port of Oeiras, with crew members reported as physically well and uninjured. Authorities stressed that in both cases, the crews had already sought refuge on assisting vessels by the time rescuers arrived, averting any immediate danger to human life.
The incidents are part of a troubling increase in orca encounters in Iberian waters since 2020, with over 700 documented cases involving the critically endangered Iberian subpopulation of killer whales. While most interactions result in damaged rudders and immobilised yachts rather than sinkings, the Caparica event is one of the rare full losses of a vessel, exposing the risks for sailors in the Strait of Gibraltar and adjacent coastal areas. These encounters with orcas rose to 207 in 2023 before declining to 136 in 2024 and just 67 so far this year, possibly due to new guidelines from Spanish authorities to encourage vessels to stay in shallow waters (less than 20 metres) or avoid notorious hotspots altogether. However, the worrying persistence of attacks, often involving a small group of orcas led by individuals like the female known as White Gladis, continues to alarm naval experts, marine biologists and sailors.
What could be causing killer whale attacks on yachts? Marine biologists have speculated that the behaviour could come from a mix of factors, including playful social learning among juveniles, curiosity toward boat rudders, or responses to environmental stressors such as depleted bluefin tuna stocks and habitat disruption. More controversially, some researchers point to intensified military sonar activity in the region since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which has ramped up NATO naval patrols through the Strait of Gibraltar. High-intensity sonar, used for anti-submarine warfare, is known to cause hearing damage, disorientation, and behavioural changes in cetaceans like orcas, potentially leading them to lash out at civilian vessels as proxies for the painful noise sources.
Recent similar events back up this pattern. Just two weeks ago, a pair of orcas attacked two boats off the coast of Galicia, Spain, prompting a Spanish Maritime Rescue ship to tow the damaged vessels to harbour. And in July 2024, British yachtsman Robert Powell shared harrowing video of his boat, the Bonhomme William, capsizing in the Strait of Gibraltar after an orca assault, forcing him and two companions to await coastguard rescue.
Now yer talkin’!
Gotta figure with an animal some 20 feet in length and weighing up to 8 tons it’s going to require some heavy fire power.
They ’re not whales actually.
They're dolphins, the largest of their kind.
They're called ‘’Killer’’ because their main prey are the calves of Humpback Whales. Two or three of them fight off mama humpback while another couple go after the calf. Such is nature.
20-25 feet in length and weighing as much as 8 tons.
You’d need a 40mm grenade launcher or an RPG to fight off an Orca.
Yeah. Or you know what else I think would work? Maybe one of those harpoon guns that has a like a CO2 capsule attached to it so that it penetrates a good 8 to 10 inches and then blast a huge amount of CO2 making almost like a mini explosion in the animal when it hits
But personally, I’m actually interested in the trajectory of the story. Because as I said, I’m a boater and I do like a boat in the coastal waters of the East Coast. And if this starts to be a trend that goes to other pods of killer whales, they will actually become a lethal threat to humans. And if that happens, then along with your flares and your lifejackets, and all your other safety gear, I can see equipment to deal with pods of killer, whales, being aggressive towards your boat, being another piece of kit that you bringing along with you.
Since the yacht is pictured with its sail raised, I wonder if they’re targeting boats with fathometers...
Two or three of them fight off mama humpback while another couple go after the calf. Such is nature.
___________________________________________________
Nature can be really cruel.
They are big dolphins?! I thought dolphins were friendly to humans, not apt to tear their boats apart.
Yes Orcas are dolphins. They’re not Flipper that’s for sure.
They may have thought the yacht was an intruder or some such interloping into their territory.
They’re quite adept at smacking seals with their tails and launching the poor things some 30 feet into the air.
The poor things come down dazed and the Orca’s just swallow them.
I recently saw a documentary about an English family that decided to sell their farm and buy a yacht to sail around the world. This was in the mid seventies.
They were making good headway, but somewhere off of Easter island, an Orca decided it didn’t like their boat. It attacked the boat so savagely, it sank the boat in minutes, but also injured itself badly. The thrust of the story was how they manage to survive over 40 days in their dingy.
Yes Orcas are dolphins.
_______________________________________________
Now I’m confused. I thought these were killer whales. So they are also known as Orcas? There were 1 or 2 Orcas in captivity who performed in shows who ended up killing their trainers.
Dolphins tend to be longer, more sleek and live in social groups than porpoises who are smaller, more stout and less social. "killer Whales'' were/are called ''killer whale'' because their main prey are humpback whale calves.
You know a lot. You sound like a marine biologist. Thanks for the info.
You’re very welcome dear but I’m just a humble guy who has had a life long fascination with these magnificent creatures.
Not to go on too long but if you want to know what a real ‘’killer whale’’ is check out the Sperm Whale. Now there’s a real hunter!.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.