Boat captain twice ambushed by pod of orcas says "they knew exactly what they are doing"

Orcas are making headlines as incidents of killer whales ambushing boats seem to be becoming more prevalent. For one boat captain, it's even happened twice – with the second time seemingly more targeted. 

Dan Kriz told Newsweek that the first time his boat was confronted by a pod of killer whales was in 2020, when he and his crew were delivering a yacht through the Strait of Gibraltar, which runs between Spain and Morocco. While anecdotes of orca ambushes have only recently started rising in popularity, he says he was on one of the first boats that experienced the "very unusual" behavior.

"I was surrounded with a pack of eight orcas, pushing the boat around for about an hour," Kriz said, adding that the ship's rudder was so damaged that they had to be towed to the nearest marina.