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Swede Josefina Sonnerup and her colleague Benjamin have spent their holidays aboard the sailboat “Amadeus”.
What was supposed to be a vacation trip from France to the Portuguese capital Lisbon took a dramatic turn on Monday night this week.
– I was asleep when I woke up with a bang. It felt like the sailboat hit a cliff, I also heard a scream, Sonnerup tells Dagbladet.
He quickly ran to the deck where his colleague Benjamin was terrified.
– He tried desperately to steer the ship while several killer whales crashed into him, he explains.
Here they attack
– Bite the wheel
Killer whales are several meters long and can weigh up to six tons.
Sonnerup tells Expressen, who brought up the case for the first time, that they were a two-hour boat ride away from land when they were surrounded.
Colleagues desperately tried to figure out how to get rid of the killer whales. They decided to start the engine in the hope of reaching land.
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– So the killer whales shot higher and bit the whole wheel so we just drove in a circle, he tells Dagbladet.
The 30-year-old is not sure how many killer whales crashed into the boat, but thinks she has seen as many as four pieces.
– Very scared
– I was very scared and we sat in the middle of the sailboat. If I had waved an arm, I probably would have been close to the killer whales, so it was a matter of staying put, he explains.
“Whaling” to see this
Since the sailboat was simply going round and round, colleagues had to send a Mayday signal over the radio.
– We were in a panic and were afraid we would drink water. We couldn’t stay in case the whole ship sank, explains Sonnerup.
About 30 minutes later, they received help from a Spanish lifeboat, which brought them ashore.
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Surrounded
– When we reached land, they received a new distress signal. This time it was a Spanish sailboat that met the orcas, says the 30-year-old.
The Spanish had heard Sonnerup’s emergency call and were on their way to help the Swede and her colleague when they were attacked by orcas.
The two Spaniards filmed the attack. In the video, which you can see at the top of this case, you can see how the killer whales surround the sailboat.
According to the 30-year-old, the Spaniards were surrounded for about an hour before being rescued, and everyone involved has been doing well.
The four are now in the city of La Coruña, in northwestern Spain, and the 30-year-old says it will take several weeks to repair the sailboat.
– I thought the worst
He is happy that they did well and believes that there was a danger that lives would be lost.
– There and then I thought the worst. I thought the boat was going to sink and I wondered if my life would end here, says Sonnerup.
Puts whales in “prison”: – Reprehensible practice that we must make reality
“Shark Summer” Trends »
Dagbladet has previously mentioned how orcas have created “shark summer” trends outside of Spain in recent months.
Ship crews outside of Spain have reported several attacks by killer whales, and at least one person has suffered bodily injury as a result of the attacks.
The Spanish Maritime Directorate has also warned ships to keep their distance if they observe the animals.
Researchers are not sure what caused the orcas’ behavior, but believe that the same pod is likely responsible for all the attacks.
The cause of the attacks is so far a mystery, but it is speculated whether the behavior may be caused by stress, as the population in the area is threatened.
