Terrifying moment killer whales sink tourist yacht off Portugal coast

Footage has emerged showing a sailboat carrying five people going down after being attacked by a pod of orcas near Fonte de Telha Beach in Costa da Caparica, Portugal

Terrifying video footage has captured the moment a tourist sailboat was sunk by a pod of violent orcas^[1] off the coast of Portugal.

The vessel, which was carrying five people, went down after the marine predators repeatedly rammed its hull near Fonte de Telha Beach in Costa da Caparica^[2]. Footage has emerged showing one orca striking the sailboat which belonged to the Nautic Squad Club.

Several blows saw it tilt dangerously from side to side in the video from Daily Goat^[3], before it gradually submerged and then sunk to the bottom. Five people on board had to be rescued while nearby boats failed to tow the sinking vessel to safety.

READ MORE: Killer whale locks jaws around SeaWorld trainer and drags him underwater in horror video^[4]READ MORE: UK’s friendliest dolphin could KILL as fears mount over behaviour with tourists^[5]

According to the Maritime Authority, the Lisbon Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre received the first alert of the incident at 12.30pm and dispatched a unit of lifeguards almost immediately. Four people from another yacht had to be rescued too after being attacked by the same group of orcas.

All nine people were rescued by nearby tourist boats before the lifeguards arrived at the scene. Authorities confirmed everyone was physically well and no medical assistance was required.

This isn’t the first orca attack to take place recently after a similar incident in the waters of Galicia, north west Spain, just days ago. While numerous pods have been spotted in recent weeks.

Just off the coast of O Grove, orcas could be seen destroying the rudder of the first boat before causing a leak in the second. “The truth is that we were very scared; we were actually really ‘scared’ when we realised that the killer whales were hitting the boat,” said one of the crew members.

Then back in July, a pack of killer whales struck in the Atlantic where they nearly capsized a yacht and left its crew on board helpless and fearful. That encounter was said to be linked to the White Gladis pod – a notorious group that has taken to attacking boats.

The group has been behind several terrifying attacks where they smashed into boats, causing them to sink. The pod pummeled a 50ft vessel in 2024, and in November 2023 they were seen relentlessly battering a yacht for 45 minutes.

Despite the terrifying nature of these encounters, experts are keen to point out that it is unlikely the killer whales are attacking humans as “we are not on their menu.” Lamya Essemlali, leader of a team researching the interactions between humans and orcas, explained they were likely curious more than anything.

She told the Sun: “Even though they are top predators, even though they are so huge and powerful and they can be very, very impressive when they come towards the boat, they are actually really gentle. There is a theory that says that one of them got hit by a boat, and she [White Gladis] got mad and so she wanted to seek revenge from the boat and she taught that behaviour to others.”

But, she insisted there was no evidence to prove this theory, saying “it doesn’t even make sense”. She explained that there is a lack of aggression when they interact with the boats, and that if they had simply wanted to sink boats “they wouldn’t have sunk four or five like they have, they would have sunk the 600”.