Two sailing teams competing in a round-the-world race had a surprising encounter with a pod of orcas as they approached the Strait of Gibraltar.

Video footage shows the orcas first circling a Dutch yacht before picking up speed in its direction and then ramming into it and nuzzling the rudders. Another video showed one of them running its nose into the hull.

“20 minutes ago we got hit by some orcas,” said Team JAJO skipper Jelmer van Beek after the incident.

“Three orcas came straight at us and started hitting the rudders. Impressive to see the orcas, beautiful animals, but also a dangerous moment for us as a team. We took down the sails and slowed down the boat as quickly as possible and luckily after a few attacks they went away… This was a scary moment.”

According to the team, the area around Gibraltar is increasingly becoming known for what some are calling ‘orca attacks’ on boats, where an individual or pod of orcas repeatedly ram into a boat’s hull or rudders.

In some cases, boats have been significantly damaged – at least three to the point of sinking. Scientists are still trying to understand the new behavior.

The two teams are part of The Ocean Race, an international competition that additionally gathers climate data.

Another incident in Scotland

According to a report in The Guardian, an orca rammed a seven-ton yacht carrying 72-year-old multiple times on Monday off the Shetland Islands in Scotland.

Retired Dutch physicist Dr Wim Rutten told the newspaper he was sailing solo from the town Lerwick to Bergen, Norway.

While fishing for mackerel off the back of the boat, Rutten said he came face to face with an orca that he initially saw through the clear water. The mammal soon repeatedly rammed the stern of the boat.

“What I felt most frightening was the very loud breathing of the animal,” Rutten told the Guardian.

The Strait of Gibraltar has seen 20 orca incidents last month, according to the Atlantic Orca Working Group and orcas have sunk three boats in Southern Europe since last summer.

The Atlantic Orca Working Group has reported a 298% rise in orca boat interactions from 2020 to 2023, with more than 500 reported in total, USA Today reported

Andrew Trites, professor and director of Marine Mammal Research at the University of British Columbia said the reason for the attacks remains an “unprecedented” mystery.

“Yes they’re killer whales. And yes their job is they’re the apex predator in the ocean. However, there’s never been a documented case of an orca attacking and killing a human being,” whale expert Anne Gordon told USA Today in May, adding that the attacks are isolated incidents.

“In normal circumstances there is absolutely zero threat to humans in a boat.”