Orcas relentlessly battered a yacht in a “terrifying” two-hour attack on July 24 that didn’t end until the $128,680 vessel sunk to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. Robert Powell, 59, and his crew were just 22 hours into their 10-day trip from Vilamoura, Portugal, to Greece when the pod set its sights on the sailing boat.

“To me, they were not playing at all, they knew exactly what they were doing. They knew the weak points of the boat, and they knew how to sink it,” said Powell, who was meant to be celebrating his birthday aboard the boat. “Their sole intention was to sink the boat, and that was it.”

The five orcas circled the 39-foot sailing boat and took turns smashing it to bits in a coordinated assault Powell compared to the carnage of wolves. – Full report