EXCLUSIVE: Pack of Killer Whales Attack Boat Filled With Tourists Threatening to Sink Vessel... Before Passengers Poured Vinegar Into the Water to Scare Off the Orcas
The tourists were left shellshocked by the size of the beasts.
Nov. 2 2025, Published 10:00 a.m. ET
The classic book Moby Dick features an enraged, giant white whale that rams and sinks a ship – and four terrified gals and their captain thought they were going to share the same fate when ferocious orcas attacked their sailing yacht, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Elise Wurschmidt and her three girlfriends, all 20 and from Norway, thought they were goners when a pair of killer whales suddenly began smashing into the side of their tourist boat, the Nova Vida, off the coast of Lisbon, Portugal, on September 13, threatening to sink it.
"We turned on the engine and some minutes later, the [steering] wheel just starts to spin uncontrolled," she recalled. "We figured something might be wrong, and then on the side of the boat, we could just see a huge orca."
Details of Killer Whale Attack Revealed
Norwegian tourist Elise Wurschmidt recalled how orcas rammed her yacht off the coast of Portugal.
Killer whales can grow to an average length of 20 to 32 feet and weigh from 3,000 to 12,000 pounds, so wrecking a large boat is no problem.
"When we saw the orca, we were quite surprised by its width and length of it," she said. "It's no wonder they actually sink boats ... they're huge animals."
The whales smashed into the steering gear under the boat, and "when that broke, the rudder was completely stuck," Wurschmidt said.
"We couldn't use the emergency rudder, and we couldn't use the steering wheel at all."
The boat began spinning helplessly in circles as the monsters kept banging against the hull.
The frightened crew of the Nova Vida tried pouring vinegar into the water during the orca attack.
Wurschmidt and her friends were white with terror, but decided to try a folk tale remedy, pouring vinegar into the water.
"We really don't think the vinegar did anything," she said. "But we just poured because it's better than to feel helpless.
"We do think that reversing the engine did have an effect because the propeller sucks instead of blowing out, so maybe the whale doesn't like that."
Another Whale Attack Terrifies Sailors
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Another vessel, the Oceanview, was sunk by a pod of killer whales just yards from Wurschmidt's boat.
Wurschmidt feels lucky that only two whales attacked her boat because "five or six" orcas charged the Oceanview sailing vessel about 500 yards away – and sank it. Luckily, the Oceanview's crew and passengers were rescued.
She shuddered over the memory, adding, "I can't imagine losing your boat or the fact that your boat actually sinks."
Meanwhile, a temporary repair with an emergency rudder allowed the Nova Vida with Wurschmidt and her friends to return safely to a dock in Cascais.
