Orca rams into yacht off Shetland in first such incident in northern waters

Cetacean exhibits same behaviour towards vessel in North Sea that has been seen in Iberian orca population

A yacht in the North Sea off Shetland was repeatedly rammed by an orca on Monday, in a concerning development following previous interactions between the cetaceans and vessels in the strait of Gibraltar and Portugal.

Dr Wim Rutten, a 72-year-old retired Dutch physicist and experienced yachtsperson, was sailing solo from Lerwick to Bergen in Norway. He was fishing for mackerel, with a single line off the back of the boat, when the orca suddenly appeared in the clear water, and hit the stern of the seven-ton boat.