Orcas ram sailboat off northwestern Spain, vessel towed to shore

MADRID (Reuters) - Orcas rammed a sailboat off the coast of northwestern Spain and damaged the vessel's rudder, prompting the maritime rescue service to tow the boat ashore, the service said on Monday.

The incident was the latest in a series of boat rammings by orca pods off the coasts of Spain and Portugal. Scientists have yet to reach a consensus on the reasons for this recent behaviour.

One of the sailboat's two crew members seriously injured her hand during the towing manoeuvre amid rough sea conditions and was evacuated by helicopter to hospital, the service said.

The boat, named Amidala, alerted the maritime rescue centre on the rock-bound Cape Finisterre peninsula on the coast of Galicia shortly before 4 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Sunday. The crew - a man and a woman, both Belgian nationals - reported damage to the ship's rudder after it was rammed by an unknown number of orcas.

Adverse weather, with winds of up to 35 knots (65 km/h) and waves up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) high, hampered the towing operation, the service said, which took more than five hours until reaching port.

In May, orcas sank a sailing yacht after ramming it on the Moroccan side of the Strait of Gibraltar.

Although known as killer whales, endangered orcas are part of the dolphin family. They can measure up to eight metres and weigh up to six tons as adults.

(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Inti Landauro and Ros Russell)