Terrifying footage has emerged of the moment a pod of orcas descended on a British couple’s yacht – and proceeded to spend the next hour ramming the vessel.
Janet Morris and Stephen Bidwell, of Cambridge, were enjoying the second day of a week-long sailing course on the Strait of Gibraltar when they felt a banging on the hull.
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw them – it’s extremely rare. We were sitting ducks,” Janet, a business consultant, told the Daily Mail of the surreal moment.
Video of the incident shows the aggressive pod repeatedly swimming into the hull and rudder of the 46-foot Bavaria yacht.
The crew struggled to keep the whales at bay while also battling blustery winds and high swells.
“We were amazingly calm but underneath we were thinking, ‘Oh my god,’” Janet explained.
“Because everyone was calm it felt okay, but we were petrified, it wasn’t until afterwards that we talked about being very scared. We got our valuables and our passports and talked about getting the life raft ready.”
“We all remained calm because we were aware that if any of us got anxious it would be infectious. We were able to do that because the skipper was so calm,” Stephen, a photographer, added.
“Orcas enjoy the thrill of the chase, so ideally we’d have kept still, but that wasn’t possible because of the winds.”
The orcas ultimately gave up the chase after about an hour, but the crew decided to return to shore because the boat’s steering was failing.
On their return to port, they realized that the whales had taken chunks of the rudder.
Both Janet and Stephen are qualified to captain and charter sailboats.
They were taking the course off the coast of Tangier to rack up more sailing hours.
The couple was asleep below deck in preparation for their night watch shift when the whales first descended.
“We were on the course to get experience, and we’ll know what to do if this happens again,” Janet said.
The Strait of Gibraltar is known for its orca population, which can cause problems for boaters.
In March, a sailboat was disabled off Cape Spartel when a pod of orcas broke the rudder, The Maritime Executive reported.
Between July and October 2020, there were at least 40 orca incidents involving sailboats in the area around Spain and Portugal, the outlet said.
