Killer Whales, Seemly Coordinated 'Attacks' On Sailboats In European Waters
Bizarre/Strange
Monday 22nd, August 2022
Ester Kristine Storkson and her father experienced a group of orcas targeting their boat in early August 2022 off the coast of France.
After making their way up on deck, Storkson spotted several orcas surrounding their vessel, the vessel's steering wheel was wildly swinging and at one stage the 37 foot vessel was move 180 degrees the opposite direction.
Storkson reports that the orcas were "ramming the boat", she went on to say, "They [hit] us repeatedly ... giving us the impression that it was a coordinated attack."
"I told my dad, 'I'm not thinking clearly, so you need to think for me,'" the 27-year-old Norwegian medical student says. "Thankfully, he is a very calm and centered person, and made me feel safe by gently talking about the situation."
After approximately 15 minutes the "attack" stopped and Storkson and her father assessed the damaged, they found that "approximately three-quarters of [the rudder] was broken off, and some metal was bent."
Storkson and her father were able to make it into port even with the damage, they made it into Brest on the French coast for repairs.
This report comes after two boats were reportedly sunk off the coast of Portugal in July 2022 by orcas.
Renaud de Stephanis, president and coordinator at CIRCE Conservación Information and Research said, "I really don't understand what happened there," he acknowledges. "It's too far away. I mean, I don't think that [the orcas] would go up there for a couple of days and then come back."
There is no definite answer as to what these interactions occur between vessels and orcas, "What we think is that they're asking to have the propeller in the face," de Stephanis says.
After making their way up on deck, Storkson spotted several orcas surrounding their vessel, the vessel's steering wheel was wildly swinging and at one stage the 37 foot vessel was move 180 degrees the opposite direction.
Storkson reports that the orcas were "ramming the boat", she went on to say, "They [hit] us repeatedly ... giving us the impression that it was a coordinated attack."
"I told my dad, 'I'm not thinking clearly, so you need to think for me,'" the 27-year-old Norwegian medical student says. "Thankfully, he is a very calm and centered person, and made me feel safe by gently talking about the situation."
After approximately 15 minutes the "attack" stopped and Storkson and her father assessed the damaged, they found that "approximately three-quarters of [the rudder] was broken off, and some metal was bent."
Storkson and her father were able to make it into port even with the damage, they made it into Brest on the French coast for repairs.
This report comes after two boats were reportedly sunk off the coast of Portugal in July 2022 by orcas.
Renaud de Stephanis, president and coordinator at CIRCE Conservación Information and Research said, "I really don't understand what happened there," he acknowledges. "It's too far away. I mean, I don't think that [the orcas] would go up there for a couple of days and then come back."
There is no definite answer as to what these interactions occur between vessels and orcas, "What we think is that they're asking to have the propeller in the face," de Stephanis says.
