Killer whales attack two racing boats off Gibraltar

A pod of killer whales crashed into two boats participating in The Ocean Race in the Strait of Gibraltar on June 22.

Killer whales attack two racing boats off Gibraltar

JAJO Racing Team Faces Killer Whales. Video : The Ocean Race

The killer whales rammed into the JAJO and Mirpuri Trifork Racing boats, according to The Ocean Race. The 15-minute encounter with at least three killer whales forced the crew to lower sails and increase noise levels to scare them away. Although no one was injured, it was still a terrifying experience, according to JAJO skipper Jelmer van Beek. He said the three killer whales rammed into the boat's rudder.

As the pod of killer whales approached the VO65-class catamaran, Team JAJO was approaching the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea during a race from the Netherlands to Italy. In video taken by the crew on board, one killer whale can be seen nudging the rudder while another rams its head into the bow of the boat.

Knowing that killer whales were possible in the area, the sailors lowered the sails to slow the boat from its 14 mph (22.2 km/h) racing speed. They also made a lot of noise to scare the whales away, but dropped from second to fourth place in the Hague to Genoa leg of the race. "The killer whales were more aggressive when we were going fast. After we slowed down, they started attacking more gently," said Beek.

Scientists have recorded a number of incidents of killer whales ramming or damaging boats off the western coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Averaging 5 to 6.5 metres in length and weighing more than 3,600 kilograms, their behaviour is thought to stem from either revenge or play. A team of marine scientists studying killer whales off Spain and Portugal identified 15 individuals involved in the attacks, including 13 calves, supporting the theory that they were playing. But two adult killer whales in the pod may support the theory that they were responding to past injuries, possibly from collisions with ships.

The Ocean Race is a six-month, 59,000-kilometer round- the-world race involving 60 boats over seven legs. Despite sailing through marine reserves, the boats sometimes collide with whales. A boat in this year’s Ocean Race issued a distress call after hitting a whale off the coast of Newfoundland in May, injuring two crew members.

An Khang (According to CTV News )

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