Three orcas attack boat off Spanish coast

A Scottish yacht owner has described how his boat was attacked by three orcas (also known as killer whales) off the coast of Spain, according to BBC News.

Graeme Walker, his wife Moira and their friend Stephen Robinson were targeted early on Tuesday morning. Walker, from Helensburgh in Argyll and Bute, felt a sudden jolt as he was at the helm of the 48ft yacht, Promise 3, before spotting one of the orcas. The retired chief financial officer told BBC Scotland: “We realised they were after the boat.”

During their 45-minute ordeal, off Cape Finisterre, they prepared the life raft as the Promise 3 was rocked and spun round.

They later discovered a 1.5sq ft chunk had been bitten out of the fibreglass rudder. Speaking from La Coruna, where the yacht is undergoing repairs, Walker says: “I felt a thump on the boat and the helm was pulled out my hand. I was not really sure what was happening, then one of the animals broke the surface, on the left-hand side of the boat, for breath.”

Walker admitted he had been worried because “you never know how these things are going to play out. None of us have ever been through anything like this before”.

He believes two juvenile orcas were responsible for the initial attack but a third one, which was “a lot bigger”, soon arrived on the scene.

Walker called the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) in Finisterre who advised him to ensure the sail was down and the engine off. The operator said the orcas would probably lose interest after 10 minutes – but they continued to attack the 12-tonne boat for 45 minutes.

At the time of the attack, the Walkers were 720 miles into a 1,600-mile journey from Almerimar in southern Spain to the Clyde coast of Scotland. Orcas are normally in the area where the attack happened to feed off tuna – but this is the first year they have been known to target boats, according to BBC News.

This is not the first incident and, due to the frequency of attacks, the Spanish General Directorate of the Merchant Marine issued a resolution limiting navigation in the most critical areas to protect both sailors and the orcas themselves. The Office confirmed that as of last Tuesday and for a week, the navigation of sailing boats of length equal to or less than 50 ft is limited in the adjacent maritime space between Cabo Prioriño Grande and Punta de Estaca de Bares both are located in Galicia.

A statement from the Office says: “This is a measure whose purpose is to prevent new encounters with the killer whales that, in recent weeks, have starred in several incidents in the coastal area of Galicia in which sailing vessels have been involved.”

It also clarifies that the sailing vessels affected by the resolution will be able to navigate perpendicular to the delimited area to access the coastal zone or leave it towards the sea.