A British couple has relived the terrifying moment they were attacked - by KILLER WHALES.<br /><br />Janet Morris and Stephen Bidwell, from Cambridge, were enjoying a sailing course off the coast of Morocco when they spotted a pod of orcas.<br /><br />Some of the deadly mammals then started bumping the boat - an attack which continued for an hour, it is claimed.<br /><br />Also faced with high winds and big swells, the able crew managed to navigate to calmer waters - and to safety.<br /><br />Business consultant Janet, 58, said: "I couldn't believe it when I saw them - it's extremely rare. We were sitting ducks.<br /><br />"We were amazingly calm but underneath we were thinking, 'Oh my god'.<br /><br />"Because everyone was calm it felt okay, but we were petrified, it wasn't until afterwards that we talked about being very scared.<br /><br />"We got our valuables and our passports and talked about getting the life raft ready.<br /><br />"It really didn't help that conditions were bad before the orcas. The boat was moving around a lot - it was hard to distinguish one cause from the others.<br /><br />"The captain was very calm and orderly, which got everyone through."<br /><br />Photographer Stephen, also 58, said: "We all remained calm because we were aware that if any of us got anxious it would be infectious.<br /><br />"We were able to do that because the skipper was so calm.<br /><br />"Orcas enjoy the thrill of the chase, so ideally we'd have kept still, but that wasn't possible because of the winds."<br /><br />Janet and Stephen, who are qualified to charter and captain sailing boats, were on day two of a week-long course to clock up sailing miles when the orcas hit, on Tuesday May 2, just seven miles from Tangier.<br /><br />The couple were taking a nap in preparation for their night-watch duty when they felt banging on the hull and heard crew members shout, 'Orcas! Orcas!' - so they rushed to deck.<br /><br />At some point during the attack the crew saw the orcas - thought to number at least six - chasing pieces of debris that looked like sponge in the water.<br /><br />The orcas let up the chase after an hour but the steering on the boat failed so they headed back to shore.<br /><br />Back in port they realised that the debris were pieces from the rudder of the sailing yacht, a 46-foot Bavaria.<br /><br />The couple will get another opportunity to do the course, Janet said.<br /><br />She added: "We were on the course to get experience, and we'll know what to do if this happens again."<br /><br />The Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Europe and Africa, has been referred to previously as 'orca alley' due to the large number of whales.<br /><br />There has been previous reports of the whales attacking boats in the area - which has baffled scientists.
