For the last few years, there have been mounting reports of orcas attacking boats off the coast of Spain and Portugal and in the Strait of Gibraltar. Photos: Instagram//Screenshots
Orcas have been doing something strange for quite some time now: seemingly attacking boats. And on September 13, a pod of killer whales was filmed as they went after a vessel.
According to reports, the two sailboats set sail on day trips from Cascais, a wonderful little town in Portugal that plays host to a barrel-focussed surfing event called Capitulo Perfeito. In the early afternoon, the orcas arrived near the first boat and began ramming it. Five people were aboard, and all managed to move to another tourist boat that was nearby, where they watched as the boat they were just on went under.
According to accounts, crews from Lisbon’s search and rescue teams as well as the Cascais lifeguard station responded to the incidents after they were called at around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Thankfully, no one was hurt. Later on that day,  four more people were on another boat that was attacked nearby — likely by the same pod of whales — and they managed to escape unharmed as well.
There’s been an uptick in orca-human interactions in recent years, especially off the coasts of Spain, Portugal and the in Strait of Gibraltar. In the last five years, there have been hundreds of reports of killer whales ramming boats and even occasionally sinking them.