#Experts stumped after killer whales attack sailing boats near Spain

Killer whales have been ramming into and damaging sailing boats off the Spanish and Portuguese coasts, leaving marine experts perplexed about the suddenly aggressive encounters.

Orcas are highly-intelligent and known to follow boats closely, but it’s unusual for them to repeatedly attack the vessels, the Guardian reported.

Over the last two months, the orca encounters have damaged several boats and left at least one sailor bruised on impact.

In the latest incident on Friday, a 36-foot boat was near A Coruña, on the northern coast of Spain, when an orca rammed its stern about 15 times, the outlet reported.

There was a report of a similar incident Aug. 30 when a vessel radioed the coastguard to say it was “under attack” from killer whales.

On the same day, a Spanish naval yacht, Mirfak, lost part of its rudder to the killer whale encounter.

Then on July 29, a boat was surrounded by nine orcas off Cape Trafalgar in the southwest of Spain.

The orcas rammed the hull for over one hour — spinning the boat 180 degrees, disabling the engine and destroying the rudder, the outlet reported.

Scientists have called their recent behavior “highly unusual” and “concerning,” the outlet reported.

Dr. Ruth Esteban has researched orcas off Gibraltar for many years and believes the same group of orcas are responsible for the incidents, saying it’s abnormal behavior for the species, the outlet reported.

Meanwhile, Spanish maritime authorities warned vessels to “keep a distance” from any orcas, the report said.