Last week, a family of five survived a sinking off the coast of Portugal, which was initiated by the latest aggressive encounter between the local orcas and a yacht rudder.
On Friday, the Portuguese military received a distress call from the French sailing yacht Ti'fare, which was operating about 50 nautical miles off the coast of Peniche. The crew consisted of three young children and their parents, and they reported that they had been rammed by orcas and were taking on water.
The family launched their life raft and boarded successfully. Within a short time, they were picked up by the good Samaritan fishing boat Silmar and brought safely on deck. To bring them to shore, the Portuguese Air Force dispatched a Merlin helicopter out of Montijo, returning them to dry land at about 2300 hours the same evening. Additional assets were dispatched to the scene but were not needed.
It is the second yacht in a month that has been sunk by Iberian orcas. In broad daylight and close to shore, the pod struck the rudder of a sailing vessel off Fonte de Telha, causing it to spin and then sink. The crew abandoned ship and were rescued without injury. Another yacht nearby had to be evacuated the same day after the same group of orcas went after it.
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