22nd June - MAYDAY Orca attack

Thursday was the day we were most worried about.  Over the last few weeks there have been a number of instances of orcas attacking boats in the Straits of Gibraltar.  For an unknown reason, orcas violently attack a boat’s rudder and, while they will go for all types of vessels, they mainly target sailing boats which have large rudders that can be more easily snapped off. 

The orcas responsible are a critically endangered group of Iberian Orcas, numbering only 30-40 in total.  They feed off tuna that are migrating through the Straits to spawn in the Balearics in June, then come back out in July and up the Portuguese Atlantic coast through the summer.  With more yachts heading to the Med in recent weeks, the number of attacks has increased to be almost daily.  There has even been a Moody 66 that was so badly damaged that the coastguard had to drop a high speed pump on board to stop it from sinking.

Because of the seriousness of the situation there are numerous organisations and groups involved in trying to monitor and understand what is happening.  It is not difficult to follow the latest developments on social media and we have been doing so for the last few weeks.  The most significant finding is that the vast majority of attacks have taken place when yachts pass through areas of deep water where the orca are feeding.  So the key recommendation is to stay shallow; at depths of 20m or below.  Several of the orca have also been tagged and there are now weekly heat maps published by the Spanish government of the orca locations in the previous week.  There are also maps showing where all reported interactions have taken place.

Orca "Hotspot" heat map

So, for the trip to Cadiz, our plan was simply to hug the coast within the 20m contour.  Not only should this avoid orca attacks, it would also be where the prevailing current against us would be at its weakest. 

Our journey started off in quite a worrying manner as, when we left Alcaidesa, we saw an Oyster 47 on the marina’s welcome pontoon that we found out later had been attacked during the previous night.  Initially, however, all went well. After a spell when the tide was against us and we only managed 4 knots, the tide turned and we reached a respectable 6+ knots despite the current.  

Then we had to deal with a number of local tuna fishing nets.  These are vast nets stretching over a kilometre in length that are set out from the coast to catch tuna en-mass..  The nets are well marked with buoys but it is often necessary to go around the outside of the nets and so into deeper, riskier water.

Local fishermen working the tuna nets

We rounded Tarifa, famous for its windy conditions creating some rough sea, and headed towards Barbette where many previous orca attacks had taken place.  Then on the radio we heard MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY.  A Dutch catamaran called Saturday was being attacked by orcas.  They had ripped off the rudders and the boat was taking on water.  From our position we could see Saturday, it was only three miles further out to sea but in 70m deep water; in the middle of the hot spot.

Rounding Tarifa

The Tarifa coastguard and Barbette lifeboat were quick to respond.  Which was good as it would have been too dangerous for us to go to their assistance.  Fortunately, in the end it turned out okay as the orcas left, the water leak wasn’t that bad and the catamaran could still steer using its twin engines, so it made its way back to Barbette under its own steam.

The orcas had not finished though.  Later in the day they attacked a research vessel trying to tag them and then the fin of one of four ocean racing yachts we had seen earlier passing through the Straits.   They later posted this photo from their underwater camera.

Up until now all the discussions of orca attacks had seemed a bit theoretical but today’s events demonstrated that they represent a serious risk.  So we were very glad when we finally arrived at Cadiz.

Cadiz is a great city which I first visited when bringing Bali Hai to the Med.  We had intended to stay there for another day but that day had been lost when we were diverted to Estepona. Happily, we did manage a quick tour of the town in the evening and admired what is probably the World’s most impressive post office.

Cadiz post office

Before going to bed there was still to be another nasty surprise to be had as we learnt that the orcas had now split into two groups, with one group heading North to Portugal.  There had been yet another attack today by this group, it was immediately outside the spot on the Algarve where we planned to anchor the following night.