The attacks of orcs to vessels were reduced by 40% in the summer of last year with respect to the same period of 2023 in the area between the Gulf of Cádiz and the Strait of Gibraltar, according to the Ministry for Ecological Transition. This Atlantic place concentrates most of the incidents between the Iberian population of these large cetaceans and ships. Therefore, efforts have been focused on reducing them.
The Ministry argues that the good news is due to the fact that navigators have followed a series of recommendations, such as navigating a delimited area on a map prepared by the technicians, establishing routes as close as possible to the coast or not stopping the ship and moving away in case of sighting orcas or that an interaction occurs.
One of the most serious incidents took place in May last year, when several orcs sank a sailboat that sailed 14 miles from Cape Espartel, in the southern part of the Strait of Gibraltar. The navigators explained that they had felt blows in the helmet and that they had damage to the helm and, what was more serious, a water path that could pile the 15 -meter length sailboat.
Behind the event was the group of about 15 Iberian Orcs (Orcinus orca) of about 44 living between the north of the Iberian Peninsula and the Strait of Gibraltar, known as Gladis. This is the name with which the most active specimens were baptized in the interactions, which began in May 2020, when the first documented match with a ship in the Strait of Gibraltar occurred.
“We put it in memory of the name that Bonaterre gave to the species in 1789: Orca Gladiator,” Alberto López, spokesman for the Atlantic Orca Group, told El País. Thus they were born White Gladis, Gray Gladis and Gladis Negraa group that continued to grow with Gladis clear, little albarracín…
“Any orca can now star in a meeting and May is a bad month because the specimens of the Iberian population are concentrated here for tuna, which is its main source of power,” explains Renaud of Stephanis, coordinator of the Conservation, Research and Study Organization Coordinator of Cetaceans (Circe).
The investigator participated in the international workshop that was held in Madrid last year at the proposal of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission, which endorsed the Ministry’s recommendations.
In his opinion, “almost 100% of danger situations could be avoided simply with navigating shallow waters, following the map offered by the Ministry, moving away in case of sighting, but without abruptly changing the course.”
In this way, the possibility of breaking the helm, which is what catches their attention is reduced. “If you stop, you play them, they arrive, put their heads below and push the helm until they break it. They can cause a water path,” he explains. But if they continue to advance, “they have more difficult to point and the kinetic energy that they transmit to the helm is less when the ship in motion goes.”
Warnings to navigators
So in the event that the orcs approach and begin to touch the ship, whether it is a boat and motor vessel, it is best to navigate to the coast, to less deep waters, says the ministry. Approaching the bands of the ships at that time is also very risky. In general, “the most appropriate is to look for safe places in the face of possible blows or sudden movements that could cause injuries or falls to the sea.”
At the same time, it is remembered that it is forbidden to use measures to move away animals that can cause them “death, damage, discomfort or restlessness.” And, if it can be done without running any danger or for people or animals, the ministry suggests that photographs are taken to have the specimens identified and refer by email to the next mail: Orcas@sasemar.es
The recommendations will also be disseminated in the captains and maritime districts of the General Directorate of the Merchant Marina and in the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centers of the affected environment, the Ministry points out.
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