Stock image of orca whale.Photo:Getty
Getty
A group of orcas attacked a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar late last month.
The attack occurred as a boat with the tour company Morskie Mile sailed through the narrow waterway thatconnects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.
The agency said in apost on Facebookthat the Oct. 31 attack left its yacht with “major damage and leakage” after the orcas “hit the steering fin for 45 minutes.”
The tour company said that “the crew is safe, unharmed and sound already in Spain,” despite the incident, and is working on making sure “upcoming cruises in the Canary Islands go as planned.”
They also took the time to reflect on memories they made on the yacht, which they describe as " the most wonderful thing in maritime sailing for all of us."
“Longtime friendships formed on board. We sailed on this yacht around the most beautiful places in Europe and the Atlantic archipelagos, trained numerous sea stewards, discovered the beautiful and the unknown, tasted Mediterranean specialties and sailed, sailed, sailing,” they wrote.
Near the end of the post, they shared that “Love of the sea always wins and friendships remain with us.”
Generic photo of orca whale passing in front of two ships.Getty
According to theNational Marine Fisheries Service, “When vessels are present, killer whales hunt less and travel more.”
The agency explains on itswebsitethat “noise interference from vessels, as well as from industrial and military activities, interrupts killer whales’ ability to use sound, which in turn disturbs their feeding, communication, and orientation.”
Asimilar incident involving a group of orcaswas reported onBBC Radio 4’sTodayshowin June. According to Iain Hamilton, while sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar, the whales began bumping up against the back of his boat and “trying to bite the rudder.”
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He said, “One of them managed to take off the rudder” and “pushed us around like a rag doll.”
While Hamilton noted that their behavior was “almost playful” instead of aggressive, he said the incident left the boat “very vulnerable and in a fairly dangerous situation.
source: people.com
