Killer Whales Attack, Sink Boat

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(Patriot.Buzz) – In a distressing turn of events, a group of killer whales attacked and sank a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar.

The Strait is a vital waterway that links the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and divides Europe from Africa. It is home to an estimated 37 orcas.

Spanish maritime rescue services were called into action after the nearly 50-foot yacht, named The Alboran Cognac, encountered a pod of orcas approximately 15 miles off Cabo Espartel, near Morocco.

The orcas then struck the yacht, which prompted the couple aboard to urgently seek help.

Authorities responded swiftly and managed to rescue the couple within an hour of their distress call, although the yacht ultimately sank.

This incident is not isolated but part of a concerning pattern in the area. As noted by the conservation group GT Orca Atlantica, around 700 similar encounters have been reported since 2020.

Spanish officials have observed an increase in such interactions since that year, particularly involving sailboats.

These interactions range from orcas making approaching the vessels persistently to striking and causing different degrees of damage to their hulls and rudders.

“During the summer and autumn of 2020, interaction events began to occur between several specimens of this species and vessels, mainly sailboats, both in the Strait of Gibraltar and in the waters of the Galician coast,” Spanish government officials noted.

“These interactions have ranged from persistent approaches to ships, to ramming the hull and rudder, causing various types of damage, which continue today,” they concluded.