For the last few years or so, killer whales have picked up a strange new habit: pods of orcas have been attacking sailboats, especially off the coasts of Spain, Portugal and in the Strait of Gibraltar. And a few months ago, a surfer/sailor named Gage Butler got a taste of what killer whales are capable of.
Butler was sailing from San Vicente, Spain when the pod attacked. He was moving a boat as part of Seika’s racing team. As he sailed up the Iberian coast to another marina, three or four orcas decided they either didn’t like the cut of the sailboat’s jib or they really liked it.
“Still in awe that this happened yesterday!” Butler wrote on Instagram. “Orcas are my favorite animal, it’s always been my dream to see them up close but I didn’t think it would happen this way… This was such an amazing, scary and fascinating experience.”
Butler went on to explain that the pod ripped the rudder off his vesel, then continued to batter the hull for another eight-or-so minutes.
“These Orcas looked smaller than ones I’ve seen at SeaWorld so I’m pretty sure they were juveniles just playing with the boat, which ended up breaking the rudder,” he continued. “It was so cool to see how smart these animals are and how they play and hunt as a pod. But at the same time my adrenaline was pumping while we were investigating the boat to see if we had any leaks in the hull.”
As it turned out, there was no major damage and everyone aboard was safe. Still, though, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that Butler won’t soon forget.
