This is the dramatic moment a group of killer whales rammed a sailing yacht off the coast Spainripping the rudder apart as terrified crew members watched.
Footage shows the orcas swimming beneath the 12-metre yacht Seika before repeatedly striking the ship near Picamillo, Galicia.
Much of the rudder is seen breaking off before it rises to the surface of the water.
The five Ukrainian crew members on board can be heard repeatedly screaming “Oh my God” as the orcas continue to circle and hit the yacht.
The meeting took place on Saturday around 7 p.m., after the Ignacio Montenegro Trophy regatta, involving about 30 boats.
Seika was on her way to Baiona harbor when she came across four orcas.
The animals damaged the yacht’s rudder and tore away pieces of polyester, impairing the crew’s ability to steer the ship.
The Spanish Maritime Rescue Service was alerted and prepared a rescue ship to assist, although Seika was eventually able to make it back to shore under its own power.
None of the five people on board were injured, but the yacht required repairs.
This is the dramatic moment a pod of killer whales rammed a sailing yacht off the coast of Spain, ripping the rudder apart as terrified crew members looked on. Much of the rudder is seen breaking off before it rises to the surface of the water
Footage shows the orcas swimming beneath the 12-metre yacht Seika before repeatedly hitting the ship near Picamillo, Galicia
You can hear the five Ukrainian crew members on board repeatedly shouting “Oh my God” as the orcas continue to circle and hit the yacht
The incident takes place during the return to the Galician coast of Iberian killer whales associated with the so-called Gladises, a small group associated with repeated encounters with sailing boats in Spain and Portugal.
The unusual behavior was first recorded in 2020 and often involved animals targeting ship rudders.
At least nine boats are reported to have been sunk after encounters with the orcas, while around 250 other boats were damaged.
More than 700 interactions have been registered over the past five years.
It comes just weeks after another yacht sank off the Spanish coast after its rudder was damaged during an encounter with killer whales.
The Spanish coast guard said at the time: ‘A yacht sank 2.1 kilometers from Estaca de Bares due to water intake following an interaction with killer whales.
“The two crew members were picked up by a nearby motorboat and are safe.”
A private boat tried to tow the stricken yacht after coming to the aid of the sailors, but was unable to prevent it from sinking.
Three other ships reported seeing the capsule in the area the same day.
Earlier this year, killer whales sank a yacht off the northwest coast of Spain after ramming another three in the same area.
Two people on board the pleasure boat Idem had to be rescued after their rudder was destroyed and their boat began to sink.
The incident happened in July, just over a mile from Estaca de Bares, the northernmost cape of the Iberian Peninsula in the Galician province of La Coruna.
Local Mayor Alfredo Dovale said a private boat helped the sailors and tried to tow their yacht to shore before it began disappearing under the sea.
A Spanish coast guard ship later took the pair to the nearby town of Carino, while a helicopter flew over the area where the orca attack took place to check for signs of pollution.
The two people on board the yacht were unharmed.
The incident that led to the sinking occurred on the same day as three other sailboat interactions with the giant mammals in the same area.
The ships’ rudders were also targeted, but the damage done did not prevent them from reaching shore in two of the cases, although in the other case the yacht was also crippled.
