Yacht sinks after latest incident involving orcas in strait of Gibraltar ( www.theguardian.com )

An unknown number of orcas have sunk a yacht after ramming it in Moroccan waters in the strait of Gibraltar, Spain’s maritime rescue service has said, in the latest in a series of similar incidents involving the animals.

The vessel, Alboran Cognac, which measured 15 metres (49ft) in length and carried two people, encountered the highly social apex predators, also known as killer whales, at 9am local time on Sunday.

The passengers reported feeling sudden blows to the hull and rudder before the boat started taking on water. After alerting the rescue services, a nearby oil tanker took them onboard and transported them to Gibraltar. The yacht was left adrift and eventually sank.

The incident is the latest example of recurring orca rammings around the Gibraltar strait that separates Europe from Africa and off the Atlantic coast of Portugal and north-western Spain. Experts believe them to involve a subpopulation of about 15 individuals given the designation “Gladis”.

Daft_ish ,

Save the whales has regularly been my own personal credo. Who knew it was the whales that would save us.

Duamerthrax ,

Arm The Whales!

We need to make them metal armor with Naval Rams on them.

boatsnhos931 ,

Welp, it's been nice knowing ya orcas. See you in the extinct animals wiki

theacharnian ,

Hahaha

fritobugger2017 ,

A 49ft sail boat is not exactly a yacht. The orcas need to move up to bigger targets like the mega yachts of the oligarchs. Time to arm the orcas.

JayleneSlide ,

There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a yacht, as opposed to a boat, such a pleasure vessel is likely to be at least 33 feet (10 m) in length and may have been judged to have good aesthetic qualities.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yacht

That said, I'm all for training and arming the cetaceans.

scroll_responsibly ,
@scroll_responsibly@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

🫡

ColdWater ,
@ColdWater@lemmy.ca avatar

LOL nice

riodoro1 ,

How did they manage to break the hull?

Evotech ,

Fucking yeet

Cort ,

I'm guessing fiberglass not a steel hull. So ramming it with the momentum of a small whale would delaminate or crack it.

riodoro1 ,

That’s why im surprised. The laminate on those boats is pretty damn thick. It takes a lot of force to break it. Blunt meat impacts don’t sound like enough but maybe at this scale it is.

girlfreddy OP ,
@girlfreddy@lemmy.ca avatar

According to the Cruising Association, three yachts were sunk in 2022 and 2023 after orca interactions. As Fantini says, breaking the rudder completely can open a hole, and water can rush in, sinking the boat. Even those sailing in sturdy racing boats, with back-up rudders and rescue services close by, can find the experience frightening.

There's a video on the source page of the orcas banging against the rudder.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230626-why-are-orcas-suddenly-ramming-boats

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