The passengers of a yacht off the Costa del Sol, Spain, experienced absolute terror when two killer whales attacked their boat in the early hours of Thursday.

The two whales lashed and bit the boat furiously and the passengers emitted sos as it began to take on water.

Spanish port authorities rushed to rescue the sinking vessel and its passengers and towed the sailboat ashore in a miserable state.

The aggression of the whales is particularly impressive as orcas are generally very social and do not pose a threat to humans[3]although there have been recorded cases of captive killer whales injuring or killing their trainers in marine parks.