Orca attack

[webcraft]

Translation of a news article published yesterday in the newspaper La Voz da Galiza 26 Jul 2022 . Updated at 14:39 h.

Maritime Rescue received an alert for the interaction of several cetaceans with the vessels Ormelune and Moana six miles off Corrubedo.

The Ormelune, a boat with three crew members on board, required assistance after being rammed by a group of killer whales while sailing about six miles west of Corrubedo, in Ribeira. The alert to Salvamento Marítimo Fisterra was activated around nine o'clock this Monday night. The sailors were asking for help because they had been left adrift as a result of "the interaction" with a group of killer whales, which had damaged the Ormelune's steering.

The Salvamar Regulus, based in the port of Porto do Son, quickly arrived at the scene of the incident and towed the Ormelune to the Muros dock, where it was left moored awaiting repairs. The three crew members are safe and sound.

At almost the same time and in the same area, off the coast of Corrubedo, the crew members of the Moana alerted the Maritime Rescue centre in Fisterra of an "interaction with a group of killer whales" when they were on their way to Oporto. They reported that they had lost both rudders, but said that they did not need help as they were able to steer the boat thanks to the two engines with which the vessel was equipped.

This is the third incident caused by these mammals in recent days. On Tuesday 19 July, a group of killer whales disabled the rudder of a sailing boat while it was sailing southwest of the island of Sálvora. The cetaceans managed to break a piece of the boat's rudder gear, which left it without steering. When the cetaceans left, the crew managed to control the boat with the help of the back-up rudder to later land in the port of Portonovo.

- W

 

[Yorkshire Paul]

The latest interaction report received by the Cruising Association this morning relates to an incident on Thursday afternoon (28 July) approximately 75 miles due West of Brest on the tip of Brittany.

As far as I am aware this is the farthest North of any interaction.

Alfredo López of CEMMA advised me that fishermen in the approaches to Gibraltar have reported plenty of tuna in the area this month but a very unusually small number of orca sightings. He says that the orcas migrated North to Galicia earlier than usual this year.

We need to encourage all sailors suffering an interaction to fill in a report form (which is used by both the CA and the scientists) and we need all of us to engage with our initiative of reporting uneventful passages through the worst affected areas (as defined on our site).

View the latest report at www.theca.org.uk/orcas/reports

Submit an interaction or uneventful passage report at www.theca.org.uk/orcas

Support the project by sharing (or copy and paste where sharing is not permitted) this project’s posts on any sailing/cruising social media platform that you use.

The web pages and forms are available in four different languages.

 

[25931]

The latest interaction report received by the Cruising Association this morning relates to an incident on Thursday afternoon (28 July) approximately 75 miles due West of Brest on the tip of Brittany.

As far as I am aware this is the farthest North of any interaction.

Alfredo López of CEMMA advised me that fishermen in the approaches to Gibraltar have reported plenty of tuna in the area this month but a very unusually small number of orca sightings. He says that the orcas migrated North to Galicia earlier than usual this year.

We need to encourage all sailors suffering an interaction to fill in a report form (which is used by both the CA and the scientists) and we need all of us to engage with our initiative of reporting uneventful passages through the worst affected areas (as defined on our site).

View the latest report at www.theca.org.uk/orcas/reports

Submit an interaction or uneventful passage report at www.theca.org.uk/orcas

Support the project by sharing (or copy and paste where sharing is not permitted) this project’s posts on any sailing/cruising social media platform that you use.

The web pages and forms are available in four different languages.

Has anyone contacted the commercial tour boats , especially the " Whale watchers" ?

 

[Boathook]

The latest interaction report received by the Cruising Association this morning relates to an incident on Thursday afternoon (28 July) approximately 75 miles due West of Brest on the tip of Brittany.

As far as I am aware this is the farthest North of any interaction.

That could get worrying if they enter the English Channel. Lots of entertainment for them.

 

[nortada]

That could get worrying if they enter the English Channel. Lots of entertainment for them.

Yes but this could generate greater action to resolve the problem.

 

[Yorkshire Paul]

Another interaction report received this afternoon - 110 miles West of the tip of Britanny.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Yes but this could generate greater action to resolve the problem.

I'm not sure what Acton can be don't to resolve the problem.
I mean they not going to kill them , they can't just move them to somewhere there no boats,
No one has come up with a solution how to stop them.
You can't use anything that might harm them even pingers are being outlawed
It seen the only thing that has some kind of deterrent is going a stern as quickly as you can .

 

[nortada]

I'm not sure what Acton can be don't to resolve the problem.
I mean they not going to kill them , they can't just move them to somewhere there no boats,
No one has come up with a solution how to stop them.
You can't use anything that might harm them even pingers are being outlawed
It seen the only thing that has some kind of deterrent is going a stern as quickly as you can .

All true but a lot more minds will be addressing this problem.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I'm not sure what Acton can be don't to resolve the problem.
I mean they not going to kill them , they can't just move them to somewhere there no boats,
No one has come up with a solution how to stop them.
You can't use anything that might harm them even pingers are being outlawed
It seen the only thing that has some kind of deterrent is going a stern as quickly as you can .

Perhaps when there is a fatality because of them sense will prevail and the pod(s) responsible will be culled but as it seems to be a learned behaviour maybe it will be too widespread to be effective ie too late. If it had been recognised as a problem earlier on and the individuals culled then perhaps the situation would have been resolved by now.

 

[greeny]

There's been a lot fewer attacks this year resulting in damage in my opinion. People are planning their passage to co-incidence with the recent reported damage interactions and have modified their plans to try to avoid the areas where the rogue orcas may be, be it going very shallow or very deep.
At first I had concerns that it was a learned behaviour that was spreading but this year seems to be different than last 2 years. The orcas that cause damage moved up the coast very early and are now in the north. I have heard of no real attacks from down south, Algarve, Cadiz, the straits for several weeks now.
A real attack to me is where the orcas damage your rudder or other appendages. Most of the other encounters have been sightings or the orcas have bumped your boat a bit. This type of behaviour has been going on for years (just talk to the local tourist and fishing boats) and is not part of the rudder biting tactic we are seeing now from what is hopefully a small pod of orcas that sometimes split into two mini pods.
This pod/s is identified and if we watch and monitor the real attacks where damage occurs then we can plan and avoid the high risk areas. This doesn't solve the problem totally but it makes it less likely to meet the rogue orcas. Along with the reversing tactic it goes along way to reducing the number of damage attacks that we saw last year and the year before.
Ideally if the rogue pod can be tagged and tracked then we should be able to plan to avoid them. I hear through the grapevine (no reliable source) that the Spanish government have put out a tender for this work to be carried out. Not an easy job to identify individuals and tag them I would think.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

There's been a lot fewer attacks this year resulting in damage in my opinion. People are planning their passage to co-incidence with the recent reported damage interactions and have modified their plans to try to avoid the areas where the rogue orcas may be, be it going very shallow or very deep.
At first I had concerns that it was a learned behaviour that was spreading but this year seems to be different than last 2 years. The orcas that cause damage moved up the coast very early and are now in the north. I have heard of no real attacks from down south, Algarve, Cadiz, the straits for several weeks now.
A real attack to me is where the orcas damage your rudder or other appendages. Most of the other encounters have been sightings or the orcas have bumped your boat a bit. This type of behaviour has been going on for years (just talk to the local tourist and fishing boats) and is not part of the rudder biting tactic we are seeing now from what is hopefully a small pod of orcas that sometimes split into two mini pods.
This pod/s is identified and if we watch and monitor the real attacks where damage occurs then we can plan and avoid the high risk areas. This doesn't solve the problem totally but it makes it less likely to meet the rogue orcas. Along with the reversing tactic it goes along way to reducing the number of damage attacks that we saw last year and the year before.
Ideally if the rogue pod can be tagged and tracked then we should be able to plan to avoid them. I hear through the grapevine (no reliable source) that the Spanish government have put out a tender for this work to be carried out. Not an easy job to identify individuals and tag them I would think.

Given the relative speeds at which the Orca and boats travel then it is unlikely that one could plan to avoid an area that they are reported in or may well be in a days time.

 

[greeny]

On a local basis yes I agree. But what boats are doing is travelling down to the Algarve early in the season whilst the rogue orcas are down south in the straits and Barbate area. Then watching for the orcas to start moving northwards and allowing them to pass through the Algarve, normally quite quickly and on up the coast. Then the boats from the Algarve make the journey south in relative safety. If you have a time frame you need to keep then this is not always possible but it is the safest way if you are retired and not needing to be anywhere fast.

 

[Kelpie]

First reported sinking of a boat by orcas:
Orcas sinks a sailboat in Portugal - Pop News

 

[CrazyJack]

First reported sinking of a boat by orcas:
Orcas sinks a sailboat in Portugal - Pop News

We happen to be in Sines at the moment heading south ourselves, last night the fog was so thick here that visibility was much less than 50m so it must have been extra scary for the crew. We have decided to wait a couple of days and not run the triple gaunlet of fishing marks, fog and orcas! Out of interest we've just watched a boat that left earlier this morning get towed back in by the rescue boat....... not sure if another orca attack or just a breakdown.

 

[Kukri]

I’m sure this will be reported properly by our hosts but I caught this item on the OCC Facebook page just now:

5 rescued after orcas sink boat off Portuguese coast

This puts a new complexion on the issue. The crew took to a raft and survived, but if this pod of young whales decide that sinking boats is even more fun than smashing the rudder off…

 

[Zing]

I’m sure this will be reported properly by our hosts but I caught this item on the OCC Facebook page just now:

5 rescued after orcas sink boat off Portuguese coast

This puts a new complexion on the issue. The crew took to a raft and survived, but if this pod of young whales decide that sinking boats is even more fun than smashing the rudder off…

An inevitable escalation to nuclear warfare next.

 

[sailaboutvic]

It was always going to be a matter of time before a boat would sink after an attack and luckily no lost of life,
Although we shouldn't be surprised to read that next if nothing done.

 

[Laser310]

do we know anything about the particular yacht involved in this "interaction"?

 

[capnsensible]

An inevitable escalation to nuclear warfare next.

A much smaller bomb would do.

 

[DownWest]

Maybe a bit of aversion therapy. A few yachts with sonar devices that make their ears ache if they get close enough to be deemed attacking. Or is that what is referred to as 'pinging'?