Attacks by pods of orcas on yachts and boats off the Spanish coast have been on the rise for months. A similar incident in the North Sea was reported for the first time.
Organized attacks by pods of orcas on yachts and sailboats are apparently expanding. So far, attacks have only been reported off the Spanish coast, around Gibraltar and off Portugal. Now there is also the first incident off the Shetland Islands in the North Sea.
72-year-old Dutch sailor Wim Rutten described the attack on his ship to the British “Guardian”. He was therefore on Monday with his sailboat from Lerwick in Scotland to Bergen in Norway.
Boat repeatedly rammed at full power
He was fishing when an orca appeared in front of his ship. The orca then slammed into the stern of his seven-ton boat with full force, the 72-year-old said. The orca repeatedly approached the ship and initially gave chase. The marine mammal continued to disappear, only to reappear and once again throw itself with full force against the stern of the sailboat.
Unclear reason, “breathing too loud”
Rutten could only speculate on the motives for the attack: “Maybe he just wanted to play or look me in the eye or get rid of my fishing line”, he speculated to the newspaper.
But what he noticed: “To me, that was the scariest thing very noisy breathing of the animal“, he describes. Over and over again, he took aim at the ship’s keel from behind.
series of coordinated attacks
Since 2020, there have been reports of coordinated attacks by orcas on ships in Spain and Portugal. Attacks have increased recently and they even went by whole groups of marine mammals.
At first they mainly attacked fishing boats, but recently they seem to be hunting sailing boats more and more often. By doing this, they are likely to point towards the rudder at the stern. O Researchers in front of a RätseI. Meanwhile, a driving ban for smaller boats has been issued in Gibraltar.