When the Lady L was struck by a trio of killer whales off the southern coast of Spain, Heath Samples, a seasoned yachtsman from Yorkshire, thought a tanker had collided with his yacht. The force of the impact knocked everyone on board off their feet, and Samples found himself gripped by a primal fear. "It was terrifying. We thought, if we are thrown in the water, what are they going to do to us? They have just thrown a ten-tonne yacht all over the place, what are they going to do to you?" he recounted to The Independent. The 2022 attack left Samples with £24,000 in damages and an 11-month wait for repairs. But as shocking as his experience was, it is far from unique.
Since May 2020, at least 673 incidents involving orcas and boats have been documented, according to 2024 research and the International Whaling Commission. The phenomenon has left sailors, scientists, and conservationists alike puzzling over a single, persistent question: Why are orcas attacking boats?
The mystery deepened further this past week, when a pod of killer whales rammed and sank a tourist sailboat off Fonte da Telha beach in Portugal. The Nautic Squad club’s vessel, carrying five people, became the latest casualty in what’s become a worrying trend. Footage captured the orcas chasing the boat, violently slamming against its hull, and ultimately sending it to the bottom. All five passengers were rescued by nearby tourist boats before lifeguards arrived, but the image of the sinking yacht has only stoked the public’s anxiety.
On the same day, a second recreational vessel off Cascais, further north, was also struck by the same group of orcas. Four people aboard that boat were rescued, and, again, no injuries were reported. The Lisbon Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre received the first distress call at 12:30pm, immediately dispatching lifeguards to the scene. According to The Sun, this was the third such attack in just seven days, highlighting a surge in incidents that has left both sailors and scientists scrambling for answers.
Yet, despite the drama and the headlines, there’s a growing consensus among marine biologists and orca experts that these encounters are not acts of aggression. Dr. Javier Almunia of the Loro Parque Foundation, a research institute in the Spanish Canary Islands, has been at the forefront of efforts to decode the killer whales’ behavior. He and his team are using floating buoys to record the distinctive "dialect" of sounds orcas use while hunting tuna in the Strait of Gibraltar, comparing these to the noises made during boat interactions.
"In some cases, the killer whale makes a 'joyful call' when they finish a catch of tuna. Once they kill the tuna, they share the food, and it is a playful interaction. If we can find that during interactions [with boats] it is the same then it will help us to understand this. Is it an aggressive interaction or playful interaction?" Dr. Almunia told The Independent. His preliminary findings suggest the latter. "When the animals approach the vessel, they are approaching the rudder in a gentle way, they are exploring the environment. When you have a four-tonne animal playing with a sailboat, the perception for the people on board…is that they are being attacked but if you look at their movement under water it looks like a playful event."
Renaud de Stephanis, another killer whale expert, echoes this view. "My feeling after working for three years with these killer whales is that it is a game. For them the sea is super boring. Kids need to play with anything. Killer whales are the same," he explained to The Independent. Boats, it seems, are simply the latest toys in the orcas’ environment, joining turtles, wood, and floating debris as objects of curiosity and play.
But playful or not, the consequences for sailors can be severe. Since 2019, around 500 orca attacks on boats have been reported in the region, with 20% of vessels damaged and several lost, according to the National Maritime Authority. No human injuries have occurred so far, but the financial and emotional toll is mounting. The most infamous of these incidents involve the so-called "gladis" orcas—individuals known to ram boats. White Gladis, a particularly notorious female, has even been said to teach younger orcas such as Black and Grey Gladis to strike vessels, though scientists caution against anthropomorphizing these behaviors.
Behind the recent spate of attacks in Portugal is a well-known pod led by a matriarch named Toni, aged 57, joined by Pingu (28), Kora (11), Scarlet (14), and IB48. As Bernardo Queiroz, General Director of Mercedes-Benz Oceanic Lounge, explained to The Sun, "We know the names of each individual animal and each has their own personality. In this group we have Toni who is the oldest of the killer whales in the area. She's considered the keeper of the knowledge of the orcas, because they transmit the knowledge to each other."
Queiroz, who witnessed the attacks while running a dolphin tour, attempted to disperse the orcas but was ultimately unable to prevent the sinking of the Nautic Squad boat. He and other experts, including orca tracker Rui Alves and Sea Shepherd France’s Captain Thomas Le Coz, emphasize that the whales’ intentions are not malicious. "Scientists will always explain that if an orca is busy or if they're hunting or something they will not care about the sailing boat. But if there is no activity, the orca will see a sailing boat passing and will approach it and try to force the rudder from one side to the other side. They play with the rudder because it's a moving part of the boat," Alves told The Sun.
Nevertheless, the risk to both boats and whales is real. Some frightened sailors have resorted to dangerous measures, including throwing firecrackers at the animals to drive them away. Conservationists warn that such actions could endanger the already threatened Iberian orca population, which numbers fewer than 30 individuals. "We have to protect sailors and orcas. It's not only one side or another side," Alves said, advocating for peaceful coexistence and better information sharing.
To that end, tracking efforts have ramped up. Alves’s website, orcas.pt, maps orca sightings and attacks to alert sailors about high-risk areas. Experts advise mariners to check tracking websites before setting out, avoid known orca hotspots, travel in groups, and stay in shallower waters—ideally under 30 meters deep—to minimize encounters. Since Spain issued similar guidance in 2022, interactions between orcas and boats have dropped by 80%.
As the debate continues, some argue that the real issue is human encroachment into the orcas’ natural habitat. Lamya Essemlali of Sea Shepherd France summed up this perspective, saying, "We are just their guests, this is their home, we are passing through." Her words serve as a reminder that, for all our technology and expertise, the sea remains a realm where humans are visitors—and sometimes, unwitting playmates for the ocean’s most intelligent predators.
With orca attacks on boats becoming more frequent and dramatic, the challenge now is to protect both sailors and these remarkable, endangered creatures. Through research, tracking, and a healthy dose of humility, experts hope to chart a course toward safer waters for all.
