- This topic has 11 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 2024-08-30 at 09:57 by .
-
Posts
-
clive
- Grazalema
Why killer whales are targeting boats in northwestern Spain?
Researchers are baffled by the high number of run-ins between yachts and orcas but believe the animals are approaching out of curiosity, not animosity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiJBcLgcOdk
Full article at El pais in English
https://english.elpais.com/spanish_news/2020-09-29/why-killer-whales-are-targeting-boats-in-northwestern-spain.html
Take a trip on the Wildside!
https://wildsideholidays.co.uk (Wildlife and nature holidays in Spain)
https://grazalemaguide.com/ (All my web projects in one portal and everything you need to know about Grazalema)
Helen
- Seville
Very few details but here is another report of a boat being attacked by a pod of killer whales
Breathe and try to be nice to people 🙂
clive
- Grazalema
here is a bit of an update on the subject of killer whales interacting with humans and what the authorities are doing to help people avoid damage to their boats. https://andaluciatoday.com/orca-attacks-on-boats-in-spain-are-only-going-to-get-worse-say-scientists_1809509-a.html
Take a trip on the Wildside!
https://wildsideholidays.co.uk (Wildlife and nature holidays in Spain)
https://grazalemaguide.com/ (All my web projects in one portal and everything you need to know about Grazalema)
Rachel
Here’s another article. It interestingly says that an orca had an upsetting event with a boat in the past and is now teaching the pod to protect itself from the danger.
Full article here: https://andaluciatoday.com/killer_whales_in_spain_are_teaching_their_young_how_to_attack_boats_2135720-a.html
The orcas are doing this on purpose, of course, we don’t know the origin or the motivation, but the defensive behaviour based on trauma as the origin of all this is gaining more strength for us every day.
It is likely, according to the researchers, that a female orca in the group suffered a collision with a boat or became entangled in illegal nets and, as a result, changed her behaviour, with the others mimicking her.
clive
- Grazalema
I have added an article at Wildside Holidays about orcas: https://wildsideholidays.co.uk/killer-whale-orcinus-orca-orca/
Take a trip on the Wildside!
https://wildsideholidays.co.uk (Wildlife and nature holidays in Spain)
https://grazalemaguide.com/ (All my web projects in one portal and everything you need to know about Grazalema)
SteveT
- Yatton
There was the first documented of an orca attack in the North Sea recently.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/killer-whale-attacking-boats-orca-b2362130.html
Which suggests this behaviour is being communicated to other pods or individuals. I have always understood the pod/pods that occupy the littoral from the Straits of Gibraltar to Northern Spain did not generally mix with other pods and were quite a discreet group. Perhaps this not the case. This orca attack could also have been be an Iberian Orca.
Miguel
- Cádiz
The BBC have an article with a short video clip that is very interesting: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66384045
“It’s only a game. It isn’t revenge [against boats], it isn’t climate change, it’s just a game and that’s it,” said Dr Renaud de Stephanis, a scientist based on the south coast of Spain.
clive
- Grazalema
Heres an article from the BBC from last week when Orcas have actually managed to sink a boat off the coast of Morocco.
A sailing yacht has sunk in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar after being rammed by an unknown number of orcas, Spain’s maritime rescue services said.
Two people onboard the vessel, Alboran Cognac, were rescued by a passing oil tanker, after the incident at 0900 local time (0800 BST) on Sunday.
It is the latest in a series of orca rammings of vessels around the Strait of Gibraltar over the past four years.
Read the BBC article here: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cmm330y6d2qo
Take a trip on the Wildside!
https://wildsideholidays.co.uk (Wildlife and nature holidays in Spain)
https://grazalemaguide.com/ (All my web projects in one portal and everything you need to know about Grazalema)
clive
- Grazalema
Heres the image from the Spanish authorities of where interactions with orcas are likely to occur.
The original Spanish press release is here: https://www.transportes.gob.es/el-ministerio/sala-de-prensa/noticias/mar-14052024-1140
Take a trip on the Wildside!
https://wildsideholidays.co.uk (Wildlife and nature holidays in Spain)
https://grazalemaguide.com/ (All my web projects in one portal and everything you need to know about Grazalema)
Attachments:
clive
- Grazalema
As the article states this video is truly is disturbing….. Fishermen in the strait of Gibraltar welding on sharp points like knives onto the rudders of their ships in order to “deter” orcas from breaking them…
This is how some sailors equip their rudders in the Strait of Gibraltar. Sharp blades to injure orcas that approach. As we actively fight for Paul Watson’s release, our campaigns continue. The operation we launched in the Strait of Gibraltar in cooperation with WeWhale to protect Iberian orcas from reprisals and advise sailors crossing the zone is still underway. We filmed this French boat in Barbate marina two days ago.
It is now back on the water. We reported the boat to the local police, who told us that although orcas are strictly protected by law, there is a grey area regarding this type of equipment, which can cause them injury. Our legal team is working on a complaint for “attempted destruction of a protected species”.
Video on X here: https://twitter.com/SeaShepherdFran/status/1817625067049963671
Article here: https://andaluciatoday.com/video-spanish-sailors-use-deadly-blades-to-deter-endangered-whales_1000102971-a.html
Take a trip on the Wildside!
https://wildsideholidays.co.uk (Wildlife and nature holidays in Spain)
https://grazalemaguide.com/ (All my web projects in one portal and everything you need to know about Grazalema)
clive
- Grazalema
Another orca attack, this time off the coast of Galicia
Full article here: https://spanishnewstoday.com/belgian-sailor-seriously-injured-following-killer-whale-attack-off-spain_1000118125-a.html
Take a trip on the Wildside!
https://wildsideholidays.co.uk (Wildlife and nature holidays in Spain)
https://grazalemaguide.com/ (All my web projects in one portal and everything you need to know about Grazalema)
clive
- Grazalema
Another press release but this time with an interview with the boat owners…..
Wim Vandenhende, aged 43, and Dana Huens, aged 36, were sailing from Greece to Belgium when their yacht, Amidala, was suddenly targeted by the powerful orcas near the Galician coast, close to A Coruña.
Article here: https://euroweeklynews.com/2024/08/29/belgian-couples-yacht-rammed-by-orcas-off-spanish-coast/
Take a trip on the Wildside!
https://wildsideholidays.co.uk (Wildlife and nature holidays in Spain)
https://grazalemaguide.com/ (All my web projects in one portal and everything you need to know about Grazalema)
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.