A Norwegian sailing boat was severely damaged by orcas off the coast of Portugal, marking the latest in a series of mysterious encounters between marine mammals and vessels in the region. The attack occurred on Saturday in the Atlantic Ocean about 20 kilometers south of Sesimbra. The two crew members of the sailing boat Levante, Arnt Remi Åvik-Langstrand and Glenn Benelex Larsen, remained unharmed after the incident.
On their journey to Lisbon, the sailors initially observed several dolphins before noticing larger fins approaching their vessel. "Then we observed fins in the left side view, which looked like they were swimming a bit slower. From the time we observed that until it hit, it took two seconds," Larsen recounted, according to VG. Suddenly, they realized they were under attack by a pod of orcas.
"The boat changed course to 90 degrees. So then we were kind of in action. Then it was really just to turn off the engine and send out a 'mayday,'" Larsen said. He estimated that there were two to three orcas, including a larger one about five to six meters long. The orcas not only rammed the sailing boat but also began biting off parts of it. "The only thing we know is that the rudder is broken. They have split it in two. And the innards, that is, the connections to the rudder inside, are broken. Stays and such things are also broken," he explained.
Fearing that the boat might sink, the sailors immediately alerted the authorities in Sesimbra. A commercial ship named NQ Rosa first assisted the damaged yacht, responding to the mayday call and positioning itself half a nautical mile away to monitor the situation, as reported by VG. "They said they were going to stay in 'standby' and monitor in case we were to sink. They positioned themselves half a nautical mile away and checked in with us regularly to hear how we were doing," Larsen noted.
After approximately two hours, a Portuguese rescue vessel arrived to aid the sailors. Despite the ordeal, Larsen stated, "No, we actually had full control," when asked if they were scared. The incident underscores a growing pattern of such encounters in the region.
According to the latest report from the organization GT Orca Atlántica (GTOA), there were a total of 824 documented interactions between 2020 and the end of August 2024 in the Strait of Gibraltar, the western Mediterranean, off the coast of Portugal, and further north in the Atlantic off the north coast of Spain and the west coast of France. Such incidents involving orcas attacking sailing boats were completely unknown until a few years ago, with a notable increase in reports since 2020.
Researchers are puzzled by this behavior, as orcas live in all the world's oceans but have only been attacking sailing boats off the coasts of Portugal and Spain. Despite hundreds of such incidents, experts still have no certain answers as to why the orcas are exhibiting this behavior.
There are several theories about the orcas' actions, including the possibility that encounters between ships and orcas are primarily caused by the curious behavior of young orcas attracted to moving or noisy objects. This curiosity leads them to approach and collide with objects of interest. Another theory suggests that an orca injured by a boat is taking revenge, but scientists admit there are no certain answers yet.
Researchers prefer to speak of encounters and interactions rather than attacks and assume that the orcas do not act with aggressive intent. "It's attributing them a bit too much human thoughts, I think," said researcher Martin Biuw regarding the revenge theory, as reported by VG. Biuw believes it may be more about orcas being social animals that play a lot. "That this may be a way to practice something, that they are practicing attacking larger prey or something. But it's a lot of speculation, really," he added.
Orcas, often nearly ten meters long and sometimes over six tons heavy, are the largest species in the dolphin family. They are predators that eat everything from small fish to marine mammals and often hunt in groups. Orcas eat tuna, herring, seals, penguins, and seabirds, and they also attack sharks, dolphins, and other whales.
Authorities have advised sailors in the region to exercise caution. "Upon sighting these mammals, all crews are recommended to turn off the engine to stop the movement of the ship's propeller, and not to move the rudder, thereby reducing the desire of these animals to start acting on the moving parts of the ship," according to Dennik N.
Many of these encounters have been recorded on video. In about 20 percent of these cases, the boats were severely damaged. Since 2020, boats off the coasts of Southwestern Europe have been repeatedly damaged by orcas to such an extent that the crews need assistance to return to shore, according to Hamburger Morgenpost.
For Åvik-Langstrand and Larsen, the journey home now faces uncertainty due to the damage sustained by their vessel. "We don't know yet," Larsen said when asked about the extent of the destruction. "The long sailing trip home to Norway now looks sorely dark," VG reported. Nonetheless, they are grateful for their safety and the assistance received. "For us, fortunately, it went well," they reflected.
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq