A yacht sank off the coast near Lisbon after an attack by orcas, while a second vessel was immobilised in a similar attack, leaving both crews needing to be rescued.
The yacht went down on Saturday afternoon after suffering damage to its rudder and hull. Video showed orcas striking the boat before it foundered off Caparica.
João Filipe, a skipper leading a dolphin-watching tour nearby, diverted to assist. “I saw the sailboat moving erratically. Then I realised it was being attacked by an orca,” he told the Notícias ao Minuto newspaper.
He said the strike lasted only minutes but proved fatal to the vessel. “Two or three knocks … enough to break the hull in the rudder area,” he said. “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.”
Filipe described how rescuers and crew attempted to bail water, shift weight and tow the yacht before transferring its four people aboard to safety as it sank. The newspaper Expresso said the Caparica sailboat belonged to the Lisbon-based Nautic Squad club.
The National Maritime Authority said a second sailboat, with five people aboard, was struck nearby, about five nautical miles off Fonte da Telha. Its rudder was broken, leaving it without steering, but it remained afloat and was towed to the port of Oeiras. “In both cases, it was found that the crew members were physically well, with no need for medical assistance,” the authority told the broadcaster SIC Notícias.
Orca-boat encounters have increased in Iberian waters since 2020, often leaving yachts disabled after losing steering. While sinkings remain rare, the Caparica incident — captured on video and widely circulated in Portuguese media — underscored the growing risks.
The orcas attacking the yacht
• Orcas learn to be whale killers by practising drowning each other
Authorities urge sailors to cut engines, avoid sudden manoeuvres and alert maritime rescue services immediately if approached by the whales.
Two boats were attacked by a pair of killer whales off the coast of Spain two weeks ago. A Spanish Maritime Rescue ship was called after the boats were rammed by orcas just minutes apart in the waters of Galicia. Rescuers towed an orca-damaged ship back into the harbour before they were alerted to another attack.
In July last year, a British yachtsman posted video footage of his boat sinking after an attack by orcas. Robert Powell and two others on the Bonhomme William had to be rescued by coastguards after their vessel capsized in the Strait of Gibraltar.