Here in Marina Alcaidesa in La Linea (located right behind Gibraltar Airport) a few topics come up in nearly every conversation between sailors: “Wow, everything is far away here, even the showers”, and, if coming from the Med, there’s always the “We burned through x hundred liters of fuel, how about you guys?” and … “Have you seen orcas? What do you plan to do if they go for your boat?” To my utter astonishment, I have also met sailors here who had no idea about any issues with any orca – but luckily, they are few and far between.

What is happening with boats and orcas near Spain and Portugal?

Since around 2020, a group of orcas has been interacting with (mostly sailing) boats, targeting their rudders especially. Experts argue that these are not intentional attacks, but a learned behavior that may be related to their curiosity and their fondness for play. While they don’t seem to want to do any harm (if a 7 ton orca wants to sink or flip your boat, he will), their “Grab that rudder” game can do some serious damage that can even cause certain boats to sink.

Video: June 2023 – Amel 55 sailing from Lagos, Portugal to the Med was damaged by orcas.

What is the High Risk Area for orca interactions?

As this screenshot from the highly recommended site orcas.pt shows, they are active in a large area ranging from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Golf of Biscay. For us, this means we sail straight into the high risk area when we leave La Linea (Gibraltar) in a little over a month.

orcas.pt map orca interactions

Orcas.pt Interactions 2025

While we plan to avoid the Portugese coast (for several reasons) and sail via the Azores, this does not mean we can avoid sailing through their territory. This image shows the “hot zone” and the area to avoid:

hotspot map last5 years

Hotspot over the last 5 years

Our plan to leave Gibraltar

Plans are written in the sand at low tide. I say that a lot, because being flexible and adopting to whatever life and Mother Nature throw your way is so very important when sailing. But as far as we can tell now, thanks again to orcas.pt, we’ll hug the coast and make our way to Cádiz (Spain) following the 20-meter bathymetric.

That’s a lot closer to shore than we’re usually comfortable with, and we’ll have to be careful and keep an eye out for fishing nets, traps and rocks. Orcas usually swim between 20 and 350m depth, hence following the 20 meter line. Once we reach Cádiz, we’ll decide to either risk it and cross to the Azores, or, if that’s not a risk we’re willing to take at the time, we’ll continue North up to Cabo de Sao Vicente (Portugal) and cross from there.

Our Orca Encounter & Damage Control Plan

First and foremost, we accept that we’re sailing into their territory and world. We’re aware of the risks and will do our due diligence before leaving La Linea and while in the area. Again, for anyone sailing the area, please do the same and thoroughly read all the information on orcas.pt and join their Telegram group(s).

We will follow their “Do’s and Don’ts” as listed on this page. Right now, that means:

DO:
Use your engine / Stay in shallow waters (when safe) / Report encounters / Be informed / Train your crew / Maintain a Constant Vigilance

DON’T:
Do NOT stop your boat / Do NOT sail at night / Do NOT stop being vigilant

Should the orcas find us and decide to play “Grab that rudder” with Nalu, we will try and get out of there as fast as we can. While in orca territory, we’ll stay as close to the shore/20m depth line for as long as we can. When crossing, we’ll go as fast as we can, with a carefully planned timing and route. We want to protect our autopilot of course, so we’ll be hand steering in that entire area.

orca interaction zone

More info on why you should NOT stop your boat: https://www.facebook.com/Circe.org

We are responsible – for ourselves and the orcas

We know there are sailors who have fireworks ready to throw at them, some will empty jerrycans of diesel and a few others will even go as far as shooting at the orcas. There are other “creative” solutions some people feel are fair game “to protect our lives”. That’s a discussion I won’t get into here. Let me just say that no wild orca has ever attacked a human being.

If you’re interested to learn more about orcas, I suggest watching the old but worthwhile Ted Talk by Dr. Naomi Rose: Let’s Throw Shamu a Retirement Party and Orca Stories by Dr. Ingrid Visser.

A short video introduction worth your time:

If all goes well, we’ll be leaving La Linea in the first week of September. We hope all will go well – both for us and the orcas. Because our greatest fear is how this will all end if they keep playing “grab that rudder”. The Iberian orcas are a subpopulation belonging to the Atlantic orca population, and are endangered. If they do enough damage, if more boats sink … it will end badly for them. We feel it’s our duty to do what we can to avoid any interaction and damage – as much for them as for us. After all, we’re not the ones facing the real danger here …

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