Portuguese authorities have had to rescue a second boat this week after a pod of orcas attacked and sank a tourist sailboat on Saturday.
The coast guard swept in on Monday to save four people on a sailboat in Costa da Caparica, near Lisbon, that had suffered ‘successive collisions with the bow caused by orcas,’ the supporting National Republican Guard said.
The boat was 10 nautical miles off the coast when it was attacked. The crew were forced to call for help, and were accompanied on to the port of Cascais.
It was the second time in three days the Portuguese coast guard was summoned to rescue sailors stranded at sea by belligerent orcas.
A yacht full of tourists was repeatedly rammed until it sank off the coast of Fonte da Telha beach on Saturday.
Footage shows several killer whales chasing the boat before violently slamming against it. The ship was seen heeling before slowly submerging and sinking.
According to the National Maritime Authority, the sailboat belonged to the Nautic Squad club and carried five people.
Already this year there have been more than 70 interactions between orcas and sailboats, according to orcas.pt.
The National Republican Guard said it supported a sailboat attacked by orcas on Monday
An orca attack sinks a sailboat off Costa da Caparica, Portugal, September 13, 2025
Authorities confirmed no passengers required medical assistance.
The Maritime Authority said the Lisbon Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre received the first alert at 12:30pm and dispatched lifeguards immediately.
Bernardo Queiroz, director of the Mercedes-Benz Oceanic Lounge, said his vessel was on a dolphin-watching trip when it noticed the stricken boat’s erratic movements.
As they drew closer, they saw four orcas circling the vessel and recorded the incident.
The five people aboard the Nautic Squad boat were rescued while nearby vessels tried unsuccessfully to tow it to safety. It sank soon afterwards.
Separately, four people in another boat off Cascais were helped to safety by a tourist vessel that happened to be nearby.
Witnesses differ on the scale of the attack.
Some reported seeing a pod of four orcas, while another skipper said just one whale struck the rudder two or three times, causing cracks that let water flood in.
Since 2019, orcas have repeatedly targeted boats in the region, usually striking the rudder. Between 2020 and 2023 there were reportedly around 500 attacks.
No humans have been injured, but 20 per cent of the vessels have been damaged and several were lost.
It comes after sailors were warned not to go out to sea last month following a recent spate of terrifying orca attacks off the Spanish coast.
A yacht full of tourists was repeatedly rammed until it sank off the coast of Fonte da Telha beach on Saturday
The coastguard advised sailors in Galicia to remain in the harbor after receiving reports of whales ramming the rudders of boats in far shallower waters than usual.
One of the attacks happened at Vilaxoan, a busy fishing and boating area in the Ria de Arousa, an estuary not known for encounters with orcas, The Times reports.
Most reported attacks since 2020 have been in deeper waters in less busy areas along the Atlantic coast of Galicia and near the Strait of Gibraltar, where orcas traditionally follow bluefin tuna migrations.
Orcas were not known to interact with boats but reports of Iberian pods ramming into and damaging vessels have surged in recent years, suggesting the behavior is becoming more common.
Many biologists believe the whales may be attacking out of boredom, seeking out an adrenaline rush.
