THIS is the terrifying moment a pod of bloodthirsty killer whales rammed into a British yacht and ripped off a chunk of the rudder. The crew were sailing 20 miles off the coast of Spain in the Atlantic Ocean when they suddenly found their 50ft yacht surrounded by the killer creatures. BBCThe crew were sailing in the Atlantic Ocean when they found their yacht surrounded by the orcas[/caption] BBCThe pod of killer whales were attacking the rudder of the boat, making the wheel spin uncontrollably[/caption] The pod of orcas appeared bent on destruction, attacking the boat with a huge amount of force. Speaking on an episode of Close Calls: On Camera, crew member Martin said: “It was intense. “We realised that if this animal chooses to do something, it will do it and there’s nothing you’ll be able to do to stop it.” The former stand-up comedian was on a three-week voyage via the Mediterranean with another member of crew and a skipper. READ MORE ON KILLER WHALES ORCA HELL Horror moment ‘sex-crazed’ SeaWorld orca mauls trainer in front of shocked crowd WHALE HELL Ex-SeaWorld trainer says 'Jurassic Park-style' breeding created 'hybrid whales' On a clear afternoon, Martin was about to take a quick break for a cup of tea when he noticed the wheel started whizzing around on its own. “The autopilot had been playing up on the trip, so we’d had a couple of situations where the boat would just go off course,” he said. “But this was not an autopilot failure and I knew immediately we were in trouble.” He added: “I could just see these whales on either side of the boat, right next to the boat and I just shouted down, ‘orcas!’ MOST READ IN NEWS HIGH ALERT Millions warned to start packing as flood warning brings 2 ins of rain in hours PUTIN IT ON Putin's deranged army SMASHED by multiple new blasts in occupied Crimea M-WAY TRAGEDY Mum stranded on motorway when Green Flag refused to help killed by truck BRING THEM HOME Mum's plea to find kids, aged 8, 6 and 4, who vanished 'on trip to seaside' BEACH BODY BOJO PM stretches out on sun-kissed Greek isle a week after Slovenia spa break SEAFRONT BRAWL Moment topless men throw punches at each other in front of shocked families “Their power was tremendous.” The crew realised the pod of aggressive killer whales were attacking the rudder of the boat, making the wheel spin uncontrollably. Martin said it meant it was “impossible” to control the helm of the vessel. “It was going to break my wrists, so it was hands off and just sit back” he said. Asleep in his cabin, crew member Nathan said he was woken up by the skipper’s shouts. He said: “I thought we were sinking. Every pounding noise of a whale body hitting the boat, you think, crikey, is this going to break the boat?” “You’re within a shell of fibreglass and you can only hit it so hard, and it was just thuds, thuds, thuds.” Martin soon noticed one of the whales had a chunk of the rudder in its mouth – leaving them with no way of steering. He said: “It had, the only way to describe it, a chunk of rudder in its mouth. “That’s not good, that really can’t be good, there is rudder in its mouth.” Sinking became a real possibility for the terrified crew as the whales continued to smash themselves into the hull of the yacht. Martin called up the Spanish coastguard for help and they switched off all the electrics and dropped the sales, deciding to sit tight. ‘SERIOUS TROUBLE’ “I was concerned that we were far enough away from land that if something had happened, we were in pretty serious trouble,” he said. The terrifying saga lasted more than two hours before the orcas vanished as quickly as they appeared. The crew knew they had been left with a damaged boat, but they managed to limp into the port at Gibraltar. Martin and Nathan said they consider themselves extremely lucky to have seen the orcas and to escape the close encounter unharmed. Martin said: “It was as close a call as I’ve had in my life and I really consider myself quite fortunate.” There has been increased reports of killer whales attacking boats off the coasts of Spain and Portugal. More than 230 orca interactions have been reported in the last two years, ranging from the massive animals approaching boats to attacking them. The creatures are regularly spotted in the area as they migrate to feed on tuna living around the Straits of Gibraltar. It comes after five people were rescued after a pod of crazed killer whales sank a tourist boat off the coast of Portugal. The 25ft orcas smashed a hole in the hull six miles from the port of Sines earlier this month. READ MORE ON THE SUN LOO KNEW? I’m trolled for not using toilet paper and never washing down below BREATHE EASY Snorers 'can get up to £156 a week in DWP benefits' due to medical condition The crew of holidaymakers were forced to abandon their vessel as it took on water amid violent ramming. They bailed out into a life raft and were picked up by a fishing vessel alerted by the Navy.
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