A British household has shared the terrifying second after they escaped a harmful whale assault whereas crusing off Gibraltar. Dave Duffy, 45, felt an enormous whack to his 42ft yacht at 3am and located a big orca ramming his rudder.

He instantly woke his spouse Kim and sought assist to steer the 42ft yacht vessel which veered violently within the encounter.

‌The couple was shocked as they observed three extra orcas wandering round their boat which shook because the whales repeatedly hit it.

‌Their ordeal lasted round half-hour earlier than the creatures swam off.

‌Dave, Kim and their 11-year-old son had been crusing from the Caribbean when the encounter occurred within the Strait of Gibraltar.

College lecturer Dave stated he was conscious orcas had been within the neighborhood, then he heard the boat “shudder”.

He instructed Mirror: “There was this great big whack and I thought, ‘oh my God, here we go’.

“I looked at the steering wheel and it was shaking from left to right.

“As I looked over the back I could see the white markings of the whale which was pretty unnerving. Then I started hearing the blowholes of other orcas around the boat. I think we had about four around the stern.

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“The boat veered quite violently because of the wind but they kept hitting the rudder and shaking the boat.

“They are intelligent creatures and were trying to disable the boat to sink us. I dragged a metal flare case in the water to try and disorientate them. That went on for five minutes and they left.

“But I started the engine up again and within a few minutes they were back.

“I turned off the engine again and after another five minutes they left. We got off very lightly. These orcas were about the same size as the yacht, so you can imagine what damage they can do.

“The fact that we got away with no damage makes it, in a way, a great experience to have had.”

‌He just isn't alone. Since 2020, there have been 750 assaults by killer whales within the area.