Translated from Publico..
Sailboat sinks after encounter with orcas off Peniche. Five people rescued
Two adults and three
children were aboard a sailboat that sank after an encounter with orcas. The crew members were rescued by the Portuguese
Navy and received hospital care.
Bárbara Baltarejo
October 11, 2025, 3:33 PM
Five people had to be rescued this Friday after the sailboat they were on sank following an interaction with orcas, about 90 kilometers off the coast, off Peniche. The search and
rescue operation was carried out by the
Navy.
The incident occurred late in the afternoon of this Friday, the 10th. A Portuguese woman, a man, and three French children were aboard the sailboat TI'FARE, "sailing 45 nautical miles, the equivalent of about 90 kilometers" off the coast, the Portuguese Navy described in a statement, when they were surprised by a pod of orcas and radioed the Lisbon Maritime Search and
Rescue Center for help.

Contact with the
animals resulted in "water entering the ship, which subsequently led to the sinking of the sailboat," the same branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces further explains.
"Several Maritime Search and Rescue units were immediately deployed to the scene to provide a quick and effective response. The frigate D. Francisco de Almeida, the
fishing vessel SILMAR, a vessel from the Peniche Lifeguard Station, and the Portuguese Air Force EH-101 helicopter were also involved in the rescue," the same source explains.
When authorities arrived at the scene, and as the ship was sinking, the crew had already transferred to the liferaft and were transported by an Air Force helicopter to the Montijo base, where they received
medical support from the National Institute of
Emergency Medicine (INEM).
"Later, they were all transported to a hospital," the Navy concluded in a statement. The
health status of the adults and children is currently unknown.
This incident off Peniche joins others that have occurred along the Portuguese coast in recent weeks. There are dozens of incidents each year. One of the most recent occurred on September 13th, off Costa da Caparica. The ship also sank.
In 2023, the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) even prohibited maritime tourism vessels from actively approaching pods of orcas in order to prevent these incidents.
This behavior, however, continues to become increasingly frequent throughout the Iberian Peninsula. Scientists do not believe it is aggressive behavior intended to intimidate, but the causes are still being studied.
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