Orcas Attack Same Family Boat Twice in Terrifying, 'Nightmare' Ordeal

Orcas attacked the same family boat twice off the Galician coast in a terrifying, "nightmare" ordeal.

Mikkel Erichsen said in a Facebook post that he had been sailing with his family, including three children, when the orcas attacked.

The first attack came on August 11 at 1 p.m, about 300 miles off La Coruña, and the second occurred on September 4, just a mile from Sálvora island.

The two incidents aren't the only ones to have occurred in this area recently. Since 2020, there have been over 230 interactions between orcas and sailing boats off the coast of Spain and Portugal. The encounters have ranged from orcas simply approaching boats, to the animals actively interfering with them. On July 31, orcas sank a sailboat with five on board off the coast of Sines

Erichsen said in the Facebook post that during the attacks, his boat had been on autopilot. Both times, the orca went straight for the rudder. He told Newsweek that the incidents felt "terrible."

"We have a description in Norwegian which is - a feeling of loss of power/control over the situation. Sailor's nightmare I think. It is our second time. The first time was more scary," he said.

He added that the first attack had been by two orcas: one large female and a smaller one. They attacked the rudder for 30 to 45 minutes.

"We turned off the engine, they kept going for a while and went away. We rigged our emergency tiller, turned on the engine and headed for land. They came back, more aggressive," Erichsen said.

The family had to be towed to shore by another boat due to the damage. But the orcas kept at it for 10 minutes while the boat was being towed.

Three orcas were responsible for the second attack. There was also a large female in the group, but it's unclear whether it was the same one that participated in the first incident.

This time, orcas only attacked the rudder for five minutes. Erichsen said the family were "quicker to reverse" this time, and initiated "scare off maneuvers."

"We saw they hung around another 10 minutes, then left," he said.

Erichsen said in both attacks, they had only spotted the orcas 30 seconds before they ambushed the boat.

Although often being called "killer whales," orcas rarely ever attack humans outside of captivity. That's making the increase in attacks particularly unusual.

Despite the nature of the attacks, scientists don't believe they are a form of aggression.

One group researching the incidents is the Atlantic Orca Working Group. A biologist at the group, Alfredo López, previously told Newsweek that in some incidents, the orcas responsible have been seen swimming with dolphins. López said that if the orcas were aggressive, dolphins wouldn't go near them.

"Since we have been observing these cases, and we are recording what happens in these circumstances, we have verified that the orcas' behaviors are not aggressive, all their gestures, way of moving and actions do not show aggressiveness," López said.

Orcas are incredibly intelligent, socially complex creatures. Scientists have previously observed them displaying playful behavior—in some circumstances, this can involve interacting with boats.

Orcas are huge animals and apex predators, meaning their behavior can be extremely dangerous to humans.