Just over a year ago, I noted the
phenomenon of Killer Whales sinking boats.
Cetologists thought that this might be some sort of play, or some sort of fad, like the Killer Whale fish hats in the mid 1980s.
Well, they just sank another boat in the Mediterranean.
I'm thinking that this is not play, I think that we are dealing with a: bunch of 5 to 10 tonne extremely angry apex predators:
Robert Powell, the skipper of the Beneteau 393 Clipper, Bonhomme William, had researched details of any orca encounter in the Strait of Gibraltar before leaving Vilamoura in the Algarve bound for the Greek islands.
After checking the numerous orca Facebook groups, such as Orca Attack Reports, and believing the orcas were now heading north, following the migrating tuna, he felt now would be a good time to sail his yacht to the Greek islands with crew.
………
By the following evening, the yacht was off Punta Camarinal in the Strait of Gibraltar.
” I went up on deck, and all of a sudden, I heard a crunch, and it sounded like I’d hit a rock. It was like a really loud scraping noise and there was a real big shudder on the boat. I thought I’d hit a container or a fishing net or something submerged. I was probably about five miles out so it was unlikely to be a rock and there was nothing on the charts.
I took the boat off auto and just took the wheel for a sec. And as I took the wheel, I felt the rudder go, and I heard the noise again. I thought, Geez, that’s not a rock. I thought maybe a rope had wrapped around the prop, but then I looked off the back of the boat, and there were two fairly young orcas, not quite fully grown.”
………
This was the start of a two-and-a-half hour orca encounter which resulted in the sinking of Bonhomme William.
Powell said he followed the orca encounter advice: he let go of the wheel, tried to outrun the orcas and put the boat in reverse, all to no avail.
This is not orca Parcheesi.
I don't know what is going on, but it's weird and pissed off.
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