A British sailor’s boat was the latest victim in a spate of orca attacks on vessels near Gibraltar, as an expert suggested a “traumatised” killer whale may be inadvertently teaching others to target them. There have been 20 incidents this month alone between the highly social apex predators and small vessels sailing in the Strait of Gibraltar, according to the Atlantic Orca Working Group (GTOA), with dozens of orca attacks on ships recorded on Spanish and Portuguese coasts this year. In the early hours of Thursday, a group of orcas broke the rudder and pierced the hull of a boat after ramming into the Mustique on its way to Gibraltar, prompting its crew of four to contact Spanish authorities for help, a spokesperson for the maritime rescue service said. The service deployed a rapid-response vessel and a helicopter carrying a bilge pump to assist the 20-metre (66ft) vessel, which was sailing under a British flag, a spokesperson for the maritime rescue service said. The Mustique was towed to the port of Barbate, in the province of Cadiz, for repairs. Posting footage of the ordeal on Instagram, British sailor April Boyes, aged 31, said: “What started off as a seemingly unique encounter ended with orcas breaking off our rudder from the boat, then proceeding to tear bits off the boat for an hour. “A huge hole in the hull meant we had water ingress to other parts of the boat and the engine room, and I can honestly say it was a scary experience. We are all safe. I’m feeling grateful for the coastguard.” Earlier in May, the sailing yacht Alboran Champagne suffered a similar impact from three orcas half a nautical mile off Barbate. The boat could not be towed as it was completely flooded and was left adrift to sink. The boat’s captain, Werner Schaufelberger, told the German magazine Yacht that he saw the two smaller whales imitating the ramming tactic of the larger orca, believed to be a matriarch named “White Gladis”. “The little ones shook the rudder at the back while the big one repeatedly backed up and rammed the ship with full force from the side,” he said. “The two little orcas copied the bigger one’s technique and, with a slight run-up, came darting towards the boat. Mainly on the rudder, but also the keel.” Just two days previously, on 2 May, six orcas rammed the hull of a Bavaria 46 cruiser yacht in an encounter lasting an hour near Tangier, reportedly causing thousands of pounds of damage. Business consultant Janet Morris and photographer Stephen Bidwell, a couple from Cambridgeshire, both aged 58, were on board for a sailing course when they heard a shout of “orcas”. “We were sitting ducks,” Ms Morris told TheDaily Telegraph, while Mr Bidwell said: “I kept reminding myself we had a 22-tonne boat made of steel, but seeing three of them coming at once, quickly and at pace with their fins out of the water, was daunting.” “A clearly larger matriarch was definitely around and was almost supervising,” he added, speculating that it was White Gladis. The first orca encounter in the area occurred in May 2020, since when more than 500 have been recorded, according to the GTOA research group. Most interactions have been harmless, with orcas only touching an estimated one in every 100 boats passing through the area, according to biologist Alfredo Lopez Fernandez, of the GTOA and University of Aveiro, who said that three vessels have sunk so far. Experts believe White Gladis may have suffered a “critical moment of agony”, such as colliding with a boat or becoming entrapped during illegal fishing, which altered her behaviour in a “defensive” fashion. “That traumatised orca is the one that started this behaviour of physical contact with boats,” Dr Lopez Fernandez told Live Science. “We do not interpret that the orcas are teaching the young, although the behaviour has spread to the young vertically, simply by imitation, and later horizontally among them, because they consider it something important in their lives,” he said. The behaviour has baffled scientists, with some initially suggesting it could be related to the harmful scarcity of food facing the mammals, or the disruptive resumption of business-as-usual nautical activities in the wake of the pandemic, while others have suggested it could be playful behaviour. 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 tonnes as adults. Additional reporting by Reuters Read More Watch killer whales wreck boat in latest violent attack off Spain Rare white orca spotted off Japanese coast for first time in two years Dolphins and orcas found to use ‘Kim Kardashian-like voice register’ to catch prey ‘Like a sledgehammer’: Killer whales perplex scientists by ramming sailing boats on Spanish coast

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Cyberattacks by the UK’s enemies are becoming “relentless” as we enter a “new era” of global conflict, an expert has warned. It comes after Russian hackers allegedly acquired top-secret security information on some of the country’s most sensitive military sites, including the HMNB Clyde nuclear submarine base on the west coast of Scotland and the Porton Down chemical weapon lab. The “potentially very damaging” attack last month by hacking group LockBit, which has known links to Russian nationals, saw thousands of pages of data leaked onto the dark web after private security firm Zaun was targeted, the Sunday Mirror newspaper reported. The company, which provides security fencing for sites related to the Ministry of Defence, said it had been the victim of a “sophisticated cyber attack”. Responding to the news, Kevin Curran, professor of cyber security at Ulster University, told the PA news agency that LockBit’s attack was “serious” as we approach a potential “World War Three” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said the raid was “likely” sponsored by the Russian state given the nature of its target and that cyber attacks by Britain’s enemies had become “relentless”. Professor Curran warned that we were unprepared for this new era as third-party companies, which hold data on our military infrastructure were not being properly regulated. He said: “You can’t just expect third-party suppliers to adhere to your rules. “There is always a risk when you have third-party suppliers and you do wonder if they adhere to industry best practice. “It is a worry because everything is online now – cybercrime is the biggest crime in the world. “Given the new era we are entering which is the brink of World War Three everything is serious. They are relentless with these attacks Professor Kevin Curran “They are relentless with these attacks. Their best way into our country is through our cyber-security. This is the nation at risk. “In this case, given the target, my money would be on this being state-sponsored.” It comes after Labour MP Kevan Jones, who sits on the Commons Defence Select Committee, urged the Government to explain why Zaun’s computer systems were “so vulnerable”, warning: “This is potentially very damaging to the security of some of our most sensitive sites.” “Any information which gives security arrangements to potential enemies is of huge concern,” he added. The government has so far declined to respond to concerns, with a spokesperson saying: “We do not comment on security matters.” In a statement on its website published on Friday, Zaun said it had taken “all reasonable measures to mitigate any attacks on our systems” and explained that they had referred the matter to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). It explained that the breach occurred through a “rogue Windows 7 PC” that was running software for one of their manufacturing machines but that the network was “otherwise up to date”. It said: “At the time of the attack, we believed that our cyber-security software had thwarted any transfer of data. “However, we can now confirm that during the attack LockBit managed to download some data, possibly limited to the vulnerable PC but with a risk that some data on the server was accessed. “It is believed that this is 10 GB of data, 0.74 per cent of our stored data. “It is well known that Zaun is a specialist in high-security perimeter fencing and has supplied fencing to many high-profile sites. “Sites where our products are used include prisons, military bases and utilities.” Zaun has been approached for further comment. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin suffering ‘mounting casualties’ and forced to appeal for foreign fighters Russia attacks a Ukrainian port before key grain deal talks between Putin and Turkey's president Russians press Ukraine in the northeast to distract from more important battles in counteroffensive Ukraine ‘targets critical bridge’ built by Putin as counteroffensive ‘breaks through on southern front’ Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

It started out as a relatively gritty film series grounded in the realities of underground street racing, but the Fast and Furious series has evolved and grown exponentially over recent years into something entirely different. Instead of the character dramas about drag races and undercover cops – which admittedly did take a few liberties with the laws of physics from time to time – the last few films have ditched the idea of reality entirely. And why not? People want to see cars being flown into space and Vin Diesel bombing around in a super car dodging explosions, and quite honestly we hope the series continues to get more and more ridiculous as time goes on. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Fans of the films have been replying to twitter user @KevOnStage in a viral thread all about the moment the series “abandoned reality”, and it’s a timely reminder of just how outlandish they are ahead of Fast X which is out later this year. These are the times the Fast and Furious movies 'abandoned reality' – and took us along for the ride. The rope swing scene from F9 Where to even start with this one. Not only does a car attach to a plane after driving straight off a cliff, but Diesel proceeds to follow it by swinging off a rope like Spider-Man and landing safely(ish) with Michelle Rodríguez. If Fast 9’s stunts have anything to go by, we’re clearly in for some of the biggest and silliest stunts ever in Fast X. When Vin Diesel fought off 20 men and pulled down a building He’s a big guy, Diesel. But is he big enough to fight off a squad of hired goons and pull down the entire bowels of a building with his bare hands? Definitely not. When Vin Diesel smashed into Jason Statham There have been some unhinged moments in the franchise, but sometimes the simplest are the most effective. In this bonkers scene from Fast and Furious 7 Diesel and Jason Statham take part in a demented game of chicken. The pair of them slam their cars head-first into one another, before surviving a crash that would have definitely killed them both. Bonkers. Vin Diesel stopping submarines All of Fast and Furious 8 or Fate of the Furious is like something dreamed up by a five-year-old with their first Hot Wheels set, and nothing is more unrealistic than this moment. It sees Diesel guide a heat-seeking missile into the path of a submarine, before taking cover from the explosion behind their cars, all on a thin sheet of ice. Flying a car into space If the series hadn’t jumped the shark already, then sending a car into space, before breaking the sound barrier and crash landing into a satellite at -270 degrees Celsius in Fast 9 surely did it. When Vin Diesel defied the laws of gravity By this point in Fast and Furious 6, the series had abandoned laws of physics to such a great extent that they gave Diesel straight-up flying capabilities. After Rodríguez is thrown from a tank, she looks doomed to fall from a great height, only for Diesel to take off, zoom through the sky and catch her mid-air, saving the day. Thank heavens. When Vin Diesel develops magic powers in the fourth film This has to be the strangest in the entire list. For a brief moment in Fast 4, the creators of the franchise briefly gave Diesel the power to evaporate into thin air and miss a fatal crash. For a moment, it looked like they’d turned the series’ biggest star into a wizard with magical powers, but then it was never referenced again and things carried on as normal. Very odd. When The Rock held the weight of a chopper Dwayne Johnson’s arrival in the Fast series really helped to turn the franchise into the testosterone-fuelled beast it is today. His first appearance was in Fast 5 and it’s this moment from spin-off movie Hobbs & Shaw where he held the weight of an entire helicopter that really nailed the daftness of his character, and his seemingly limitless strength. Driving from one skyscraper to another The films are never short on spectacle, no-one can deny that. What is debatable, though, is the viability of a car driving out of one hi-rise building and then landing perfectly safe in another skyscraper a little further apart. When Vin Diesel survived direct missile strikes Although Vin Diesel is already in a Marvel film (he plays 'Groot' in Guardians of the Galaxy) – the fact is, he’s been playing a superhero for more than 20 years. The man is indestructible, as this clip of him taking direct hits from missile strikes, before rolling out onto the road without a scratch proves. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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