GLADIS’ REVENGE
Killer whale gang led by infamous White Gladis sinks ANOTHER yacht off Gibraltar coast amid fears of summer of attacks
Experts reveal theories for the attacks below
A POD of rogue killer whales have sunk another yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar - the fourth such incident in the past year.
The orcas relentlessly pummeled the 50ft Alboran Cognac with two people onboard on Sunday morning.
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The ambush likely came from a notorious pod of whales led by an orca dubbed White Gladis which is thought to have been attacking seafarers for at least three years.
Passengers onboard the vessel said they felt sudden blows to the hull before it started sinking in the Moroccan waters.
They were rescued by a nearby oil tanker which dropped them to Gibraltar after receiving emergency alerts.
The 50ft yacht was left abandoned before it sank completely.
Orca attacks on boats travelling through the Strait of Gibraltar - also known as Orca Alley - were first reported in 2020.
These ambushes, which range from orcas simply approaching boats to actively interfering with them, have repeatedly occurred in the stretch of water between Spain and Morocco.
Authorities noticed a steady uptick in incidents and restricted boats from sailing from the tip of Spain due to a staggering 29 reported orca attacks in four months.
The Atlantic Orca Working Group has reported a 298% rise in orca-boat interactions from 2020 to 2023, Forbes reports.
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They are said to be led by White Gladis who experts fear could possibly be teaching other whales how to attack and sink boats passing through the channel.
One attack took place in November last year when a killer whale gang furiously attacked and sunk a boat near a Moroccan port.
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The Polish company that was operating the boat said all attempts to rescue the yacht failed before it sunk.
The operator said the crew were "safe, unharmed, and sound" following the bizarre incident.
They said in a statement: "Despite attempts to bring the yacht to the port by the captain, crew and rescuers from the SAR (Search and Rescue), port tugs and the Moroccan Navy, the unit sunk near the entrance to the port of Tanger Med."
Another incident took place in August when a boat full of panicked tourists was attacked by a pod of killer whales.
Footage showed the horrified holidaymakers surrounded by several orcas just off the coast of Sesimbra, Portugal.
Last year, Brit couple Janet Morris, 58, and Stephen Bidwell, 58, from Cambridge, were involved in a whale attack that lasted for an hour.
On May 2, around six orcas reportedly rammed the hull of the Bavaria 46 cruiser yacht they were travelling on, on the Strait of Gibraltar.
Janet and Stephen were stunned when they were alerted with the cry of “orcas!”
Why are orcas attacking boats?
WHILE researchers are unsure exactly why killer whales have been attacking boats in the strait, many theories have been put forward.
Some experts suggest it could be a playful manifestation of the animals' curiosity.
But others fear a "critical moment of agony" such as a collision may have sparked aggression towards boats.
Alfredo López Fernandez, a biologist at the University of Aveiro in Portugal, told LiveScience: "That traumatized orca is the one that started this behaviour of physical contact with the boat."
Some even speculate White Gladis may now be spurring fellow killer whales on.
Orcas are the largest members of the oceanic dolphin family.
Although they never attack humans, the apex predators can take down large groups of whales, hence the name killer.
What makes them a unique marine mammal is that they often hunt in lethal pods and family groups of up to 40 individuals - and feast on fish, dolphins, seal lions, seals, sharks and stingrays.
The carnivores can grow up to 32feet long and weigh up to six tons - and are immediately recognizable by their distinctive black-and-white colouring.
Stephen told The Telegraph: “It was an experience I will never forget.
“I kept reminding myself we had a 22-ton boat made of steel, but seeing three of them coming at once, quickly and at pace with their fins out of the water was daunting.”
Janet added: “We were sitting ducks.”
“A clearly larger matriarch was definitely around and was almost supervising,” Stephen added, furthering speculation that it was White Gladis.
The captain of the boat, Greg Blackburn, from Leeds, dropped the mainsail to make the vessel feel “as boring as possible”.
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The group of whales and their gang leader eventually lost interest - after causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.
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