Stay up to date with notifications from The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.Jump to contentThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleOrcas have rammed hundreds of boats near the Iberian peninsula since 2020 (Getty/iStock)Four people were rescued off the coast of Portugal after their boat was repeatedly struck by orcas near Costa da Caparica. This incident marked the third such encounter involving killer whales in the region within a single week. Earlier in the week, a tourist yacht carrying five people sank near Fonte da Telha beach after being rammed by a pod of orcas, though all crew were rescued. Another incident occurred on the same day off the Bay of Cascais, where four people were safely removed from their boat following an orca interaction. Hundreds of similar incidents of orcas ramming boats have been documented near the Iberian peninsula since May 2020. In fullOrcas attack boat off Portugal coast for third time in a week as four rescuedThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

The vessel was sailing along off the coast of Fonte da Telha beach in Portugal on Saturday when disaster struck.

Yacht was carrying five people when killer whales attacked it near Fonte da Telha beach

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 crew were taken to the port of Cascais by a patrol boat after ‘repeated strikes’ by a killer whale on the vessel

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