We’ve already reported (a few times) about the spate of Orca attacks on boats in the straight of Gibraltar, but now we have video. A recently posted clip shows the vengeful ocean mammals ripping off both rudders of a luxury catamaran in April of this year.
The boat in question was a brand new Bali 4.8, an extremely expensive luxury catamaran being delivered to a client by Captain Dan Kriz. According to a blog post by Catamaran Guru, the company delivering the boat, this was not Kriz’s first encounter with killer whales. In 2020, he was attacked by a small pod of orcas for a full hour, during which he could hear them communicating beneath the water as they pushed the boat and removed its rudder.
As a result, when the crew of his boat felt what seemed like a hard hit from a wave, he immediately knew what was going on. This attack was more efficient, however, as the orcas silently and deliberately bit off both rudders. One whale even returned to remove a final piece that was left over after the initial attack. This encounter only took 15 minutes. Afterwards, the boat limped its way to Barbate, Spain, using its motors.
Though the crews of small boats in the region have become increasingly wary of Orcas, Captain Kriz said he felt no animosity towards the critters. As Catamaran Guru wrote, “[Captain Kriz] agrees that the whales mean no harm to the humans aboard and are either training their young on hunting maneuvers or playing.”
