Team JAJO had some special –– and terrifying –– visitors while sailing in the Strait of Gibraltar as part of the 2023 Ocean Race on Thursday.

A group of orcas, otherwise known as killer whales, surrounded the Dutch crew’s yacht, first circling the boat and then ramming into it. 

“This was a scary moment,” Jelmer van Beek, Team JAJO skipper,  said, according to the Associated Press. “Three orcas came straight at us and started hitting the rudders. Impressive to see the orcas, beautiful animals, but also a dangerous moment for us as a team.”

Some of Team JAJO’s crew banged on the ship’s hull to try to scare the orcas away while the whales started biting the boat’s rudders.

“We took down the sails and slowed down the boat as quickly as possible, and luckily after a few attacks, they went away,” van Beek said. 

Team JAJO was in second place of the VO65 class in the Ocean Race when the incident happened.

While they dropped to fourth place after handling the orcas, the group eventually slotted back into second by the end of the day and remain there now as the race enters the final leg. 

The Ocean Race, started in 1973, is a six-month yacht race that covers 32,000 nautical miles and goes through nine international cities –– the competition started from Alicante, Spain in January and will finish at the end of June in Genova, Italy. 

There has reportedly been a recent increase in orca sightings in the Strait of Gibraltar.

There were more than 20 incidents of orcas interacting with boats logged in May. 

The Mipuri/Trifork Racing Team, another group competing in the Ocean Race, reported a pod of orcas, but there was no damage caused. 

Team JAJO is in good spirits after the scary moment and is back on track to Italy.

“Thankfully, the crew and the boat are unharmed,” they wrote in an Instagram post. “The Dutch boat skippered by Jelmer van Beek is now back on its way to Genova.”