Orcas ripped the rudders off of a yacht in the latest example of an assault on ships by killer whales in the Strait of Gibraltar. #orca #killerwhale #orcas #whitegladis #yacht | A pod of orca whales surrounded the yacht of British sailor Ian Hamilton while he was sailing in the Strait of Gibraltar, ramming the boat and tearing off both rudders. | There have been 20 incidents of killer whales attacking ships in the Strait of Gibraltar, a passage that connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, in the past month alone. | “We had no mechanism of steering the boat and the whales were in charge of the boat and they pushed us around like a rag doll,” Hamilton told BBC Radio 4. | Scientists believe that a traumatised orca named White Gladis taught the behaviour to other whales as a defence mechanism after a “critical moment of agony” like being struck by a ship or harmed by a fishing operation. | Orcas Are Still Attacking Boats, and Tossed a Yacht Around “Like a Rag Doll”