A group of five to six people. killer whales attacked a sailboat in the vicinity near Ceutastill a rare sight on the coast of this autonomous Spanish city in North Africa.

As reported by EFE The attack occurred on Thursday afternoon in the waters of the northern bay of Ceuta, when three passengers on the sailboat alerted the 112 emergency service about the incident, according to the port. cetacean attackwhich, with their blows, damaged the rudder and parts of the hull, leaving the boat to drift.

The sailboat had to be towed away port As a result, damage was sustained, although the crew members were in good condition.

Killer whale attacks in strait of Gibraltar Until now they were common on the coast of Cadiz, on the European part of the Spanish coast, but not in Ceuta, where such cases have not been known recently.

Experts believe that the episodes of interactions between killer whales and sailfish, which have been happening with some regularity for several years in the Strait of Gibraltar, are a response to play, and not to attacks, aggression or any kind of revenge against people. And they do not obey mothers teach their cubs to hunt.

Every year, groups of killer whales from a subpopulation called Iberian killer whalesconsidered vulnerable in the spanish catalog Endangered speciesThey arrive in the area following the bluefin tuna in May, June, July and August, the normal feeding period, which ends in late summer, at which time they leave the area.