A pod of killer whales attacked and sank another ship in southwestern Europe after brutally bombarding the ship and its crew for nearly an hour before Halloween. This is the fourth time local orcas have sunk a ship in the last two years.

Grazie Mamma, a medium-sized sailing yacht owned by Polish cruise company Morskie Mile, was attacked by an unknown number of orcas for about 45 minutes off the coast of Morocco in the Strait of Gibraltar on Oct. 31, Morskie Mile officials said. In a Facebook post translated from Polish.

Killer whales (Orcinus orca), also known as killer whales, repeatedly hit the yacht’s rudder, causing serious damage and leaking water into the boat’s hull. Although the boat received assistance from the Moroccan Navy and was towed to safety, it eventually sank while entering the Moroccan port of Tangier-Med. All passengers were safely evacuated to lifeboats before the ship sank.

This unusual attack is the latest example of one of many alarming new behaviors of killer whales that highlight the striking intelligence of these deadly predators.

Since 2020, killer whales have been regularly chasing boats in the Strait of Gibraltar, the narrow strait between Spain and Morocco that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean, and in the surrounding waters off the coast of the Iberian Peninsula.

These sea raids were likely initiated by a pod that included the female killer whale Bila Gladys, who may have been traumatized by a previous boat collision. The unusual behavior then spread to other people, who appeared to be bolder and more effective in their attacks.

At least three other boats have sunk in the area so far; The most recent incident occurred in May 2023, and the previous two occurred in 2022. And in June, “with brutal efficiency” the rudder completely broke off near the yacht. In a 15 minute attack.

Researchers suspect the killer whales have learned to attack each other’s boats. Witnesses also reported seeing killer whales “teaching” themselves how to maximize the damage they inflict on other humans, Live Science previously reported.

Only one ship has ever been attacked outside the Straits of Gibraltar and surrounding waters: a yacht rammed by a lone man more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) away in Scotland. However, it is not possible to directly attribute this attack to other killer whales.

Boat attacks are not the only unusual behavior of killer whales that scientists have noticed in recent years. A pair of killer whales known as Port and Starboard have killed dozens of great white sharks by tearing out their livers in South Africa since 2017. And on October 17 this year, this behavior was first reported in Australia, suggesting the disease may be spreading. Source