Orcas sink ANOTHER boat off Gibraltar after relentless 45-minute attack by killer whales ‘led by notorious White Gladis’
A POD of killer whales attacked a boat in the Gibraltar Strait, sinking the yacht in the fourth incident of its kind in just two years.
The orcas relentlessly pummelled the boat's rudder, damaging the vessel beyond repair.
The ambush likely came from a notorious pod of whales led by an orca dubbed "White Gladis" which has been apparently attacking seafarers for at least three years.
The Polish company who were operating the boat said all attempts to rescue the yacht failed before it sunk near a Moroccan port.
The operator said the crew were "safe, unharmed, and sound" following the bizarre incident.
They said in a statement: "Despite attempts to bring the yacht to the port by the captain, crew and rescuers from the SAR (Search and Rescue), port tugs and the Moroccan Navy, the unit sunk near the entrance to the port of Tanger Med."
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Orca attacks on boats travelling through the Strait of Gibraltar - also known as Orca Alley - were first reported in 2020.
These ambushes, which range from orcas simply approaching boats to actively interfering with them, have repeatedly occurred in the stretch of water between Spain and Morocco.
One such attack happened just months ago when a 50ft yacht was attacked by four killer whales in the same waters.
Another even saw a tourist boat rammed for an hour.
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Some believe a 25ft-long mother orca, dubbed White Gladis, is the ringleader of the pod.
One scientist even speculated that the killer whale could be acting in retaliation after a previous troubling incident.
Alfredo Lopez Fernandez, a biologist from the Orca Atlantic Working Group which is studying the encounters, said: “That traumatised orca is the one that started this behaviour of physical contact with the boat."
Scientists fear a "critical moment of agony" such as a collision may have sparked her aggression towards boats, and - while there is no definitive evidence - speculate she may now be spurring fellow killer whales on to target vessels.
Authorities noticed a steady uptick in incidents and restricted boats from sailing from the tip of Spain due to a staggering 29 reported orca attacks in four months.
The huge animals can measure 20 to 26 feet long, meaning they have been able to inflict thousands of pounds of damage on boats and even sink them altogether, as with this Polish yacht.
