family rescued from sinking yacht rammed by killer whales terrorising spanish waters

Orcas sank yet another yacht as Portuguese Air Force saved the stranded family of five off the coast of Portugal (Picture: Portuguese Air Force)

A young family narrowly escaped death after killer whales smashed into their yacht.  

The damaged boat was taking on water when the Portuguese Air Force rescued a couple and their three children on Friday.

The wild encounter was the latest in a series of orca run-ins.

Experts warn that a band of just fifteen whales could be responsible for a wave of alarming incidents along Iberia’s Atlantic coast.

The family,including three children aged 8,10 and twelve,were sailing 55 miles south-east of the picturesque town of Peniche,in Portugal’s west,when they inadvertently charted a course for trouble.

As nightfall fell,a pod of orcas started smashing the French-flagged 36ft-long yacht.

The parents sent out an SOS message,picked up by Lisbon’s maritime search and rescue team,which called out an Air Force helicopter,a Naval frigate and a lifeboat at 8.45pm.

The family abandoned their sinking boat in a life raft and were picked up by a nearby fishing vessel that also heard their mayday call.

Officers on the military helicopter then winched the survivors off the fishing vessel and to a local hospital.

The parents sent out an SOS message,which called out an Air Force helicopter (Picture: Portuguese Air Force)

The family,who had reportedly travelled from the French town of Lorient,are understood to be receiving consular assistance after leaving hospital.

Extraordinary footage taken from the helicopter shows the rescue crew descending on the stricken vessel as it’s buffeted by waves in the pitch black of night.

A Portuguese Air Force spokesperson confirmed that five people had been attacked by a group of killer whales on Friday night and that it had deployed an EH-101 Merlin helicopter.

A Portuguese Air Force spokesperson confirmed that five people had been attacked by a group of killer whales on Friday night (Picture: Portuguese Air Force)

The Air Force said: ‘After the incident,the five people abandoned the vessel using a life raft and were later picked up by a fishing boat that was in the vicinity.’

Last month,there were four similar incidents in one week.

On Monday,September 15,Portugal’s Coastal and Border Control Unit (UCCF) rescued four people from a boat following orca strikes 10 nautical miles off Lisbon.

Two days before that,a tourist yacht carrying five people sank close to the nearby Fonte da Telha beach after being rammed by a pod of orcas.

A second encounter with the same pod was recorded later that day off the Bay of Cascais,with four people removed from their boat without injuries.

Experts say that just 15 members of a 50-strong orca clan are likely damaging yachts between the middle of the Bay of Biscay and Marbella in southern Spain.

Experts say that just 15 members of a 50-strong orca clan are to blame for a spate of wild encounters (Picture: Universal Images Group via Getty/Francois Gohier)

Scientists believe orcas are being playful when they strike unwitting vessels (Picture: Danny Frank/Splashdown/Shutterstock)

The Cruising Association has said: ‘Since 2020 about 15 members of a population of orca who frequent the Atlantic coasts of Spain and Portugal have been damaging yachts in the seas between the middle of the Bay of Biscay and Marbella in southern Spain.’

The sailing organisation continued: ‘After five years of study,scientists are still uncertain why the orca are behaving this way,suspecting it may be a form of play.’

It added: ‘In early 2023,the number of interactions escalated,but the number eased slightly in 2024. Interactions peak between April to September,with reduced interactions during winter.’