About one in sixty people killer whales Those who live in Spanish waters, especially the Strait of Gibraltar and the coasts of Galicia, It has undertaken the mission of carrying it embedded in its dorsal fin. GPS locator to warn their areato help avoid collisions with sailboats, which, for unknown reasons, have proliferated in recent years.
Satellite tagging of this orca has already made it possible to prepare the first of the weekly maps. The Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge will now implement it so that seafarers know where their cetacean families are and avoid passing through them.
is one of the measures to be taken. minimize the number of orca strikes on sailboats which began to be registered about three years ago and increased dangerous situations for sailboats and their crews, especially in the Strait of Gibraltar and the coasts of Galicia.
24 sailboats rescued in 2023
Sea Rescue forced this year join and withdraw by the end of last MayTo 24 sailors who had trouble at sea after encountering orcas in the waters of the Strait of Gibraltar.
The number nearly doubles the fourteen saves they had to make in all of 2022 and the 13 saves they made in 2021.According to the data provided to EFE by this institution and does not cover sections where sailboats do not need assistance.
The most recent one occurred at around 10 pm on 25 May, when four crew members of a 20-metre sailboat en route from Tarifa to Gibraltar warned that they had collided with a group of orcas. The boat drifted due to a broken rudder and an open waterway that flooded it.
Sea Rescue rescued the four crew members in a helicopter and towed the sailboat to Barbate harbor.
A puppy game?
Here is an example of episodes that began to occur in 2020 and have been repeated since then, without the scientific community agreeing to explain this new behavior of orcas: A new game of a very social animal interacting with what it finds? Revenge for being attacked by a member? Training the fry for tuna fishing?
What seems obvious is that orcas are limited to just a “little touch” or bite to the rudder blade of sailboats.
If their intention was to attack, the orcas could sink these boots in a second. Because they are animals, they can weigh up to two tons when young and seven tons as adults, and usually swim at 50 kilometers per hour.
According to experts, They are peaceful, sociable and curious animals that have never attacked humans.
The testimonies of some sailing captains who were exposed to these contacts said that young orcas touched the rudder and passed under the boats, while adult orcas lined up on both sides of the boat as if they were accompanying a game. puppies
Satellite marking to reduce impacts
So far these interactions have led to measures such as the temporary restriction of sailing navigation in some areas. And now the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge has taken up the other work. reducing these contacts and examining these new behaviors A species included in the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species.
For this, Cetacean Conservation has undertaken satellite marking in cooperation with the Information and Study (CIRCE) platform.
“With an air rifle, a small arrow is fired with an instrument with tiny titanium darts left on the dorsal fin. It is practically painless and after a month or a half the same animal ejects it,” explained CIRCE coordinator Efe Renaud de Stephanis.
This entity will keep a killer whale or two with these devices over the next few months, this will allow elaboration of maps to identify areas of greatest and least risk to seafarers.
During the spring and most of the summer, killer whales that visit the Bosphorus and then travel north as the tuna pass through the area act as families, so they live here. The information someone gives is valid for the group.
Moreover, other techniques being tested with expert groups encourage actions to minimize interactions and develop techniques to deepen knowledge of orcas’ habits and “retrain” their habit of touching sailboats.
Advice for seafarers in the region
A number of maritime security officials Advice to boaters in case they encounter orcas.
Sail as fast as you can into shallow waters, preferably motorized and not sailing, In addition to taking extreme measures to protect marine mammals, the main recommendation is to avoid behavior that could cause death, harm, discomfort or anxiety to animals.
Moreover, the obligation of each employer to report these interactions and, if possible, ask them to take photographic records of any “involved” orca specimens, without neglecting to “comply with obligations of precautionary and good maritime practice.”
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Contact address of the environment department: [email protected]