Killer whale takes wheel after attacking yacht

Spain A pod of killer whales focused on the yacht's rudder and chased the victim all the way to shore during an attack in the Strait of Gibraltar.

Killer whales attacked a cruise ship in the Strait of Gibraltar, biting off both rudders in less than 15 minutes and then playing with the debris, according to footage shared on Instagram by Florida-based Catamaran Guru, Live Science reported on June 14. One of the killer whales swam back as the crew headed toward shore, chasing the cruise ship all the way to the dock in Sotogrande, Spain.

According to Dan Kriz, the pilot on the catamaran, they aimed straight at the rudder. The whole process took 10-15 minutes. The yacht was sailing through the Strait to the Canary Islands on April 15. A pod of four to five killer whales, including at least three juveniles, charged at the yacht’s rudder. Kriz saw two juvenile killer whales attack the rudder one after the other while the adult swam around.

In video of the encounter, a juvenile killer whale can be seen swooping under the boat's stern, then slamming its head into the bottom of the vessel. Five seconds later, it reappears with a piece of fiberglass in its mouth. The attack was deliberate and effective. "As we were driving toward the dock, we saw the adult killer whale chasing us. The crew immediately shut off the engine. They stopped, let the animal take the rest of the rudder, and the pod left," Kriz said.

This is not the first time killer whales have followed ships to shore. An encounter with killer whales in the Strait of Gibraltar on May 24 ended with the crew following the yacht into port. The incident on April 15 was Kriz's second encounter with killer whales in Gibraltar. Three years ago, when the first attacks occurred, his crew witnessed unusual behavior from killer whales. A pod of eight circling and pushing against the yacht for more than an hour. Since then, researchers have recorded more than 500 cases of killer whales ramming ships. They believe a female killer whale named White Gladis initiated the behavior after being injured by a collision with a ship or caught in a net.

An Khang (According to Live Science )

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