2020 Orca attack Porto

Orca attack Porto

Delivering a Lagoon 450 from Les Sables to Gibraltar we were attacked by a pod of Orcas at 1900 on 4 October 2020. Difficult to say how many orcas but there were at least 6.

It started with the owners wife saying there were some big dolphins alongside and nothing could have prepared me for the next two hours. Jet black and brilliant white with a massive dorsal fin they are apex predators and members of the dolphin family.

I have only seen an orca in Vancouver aquarium from the safety of a seat in the gallery. Our visitors arrived at dusk and constantly charged the boat menacingly turning upside down for the next push at the boat. The bang when they hit was unsettling and when pushing/ biting the rudder the steering wheel violently spun round.

Advice issued by Spanish Coastguard is to switch off the engine which we did. On the basis that this is a new behaviour and nobody really knows how badly they can disable a yacht or even cause damage where the boat floods I contacted Falmouth Coastguard to alert them by satellite phone and get the number for Spanish Coastguard. We were pretty much alone 20 miles offshore off Porto Portugal. Once I made contact with Portuguese Coastguard they had all our details and could monitor on AIS ( a bit like air traffic control).

We deployed the genoa to start sailing to Porto where there was more shipping to perhaps distract the orcas. A large fishing boat was nearby and we moved gently over towards it. Not on AIS and not responding to VHF radio my thinking was they would be hauling fish which may be more of interest.

As darkness fell the attacks continued. After two hours the relentless banging was truly disconcerting. Then 5 minutes without an attack then 10 then 20. After half an hour we considered the ordeal to be over. Decision then was to head much closer into shore where we would be within VHF range with more boats around with safety in numbers.

These are beautiful creatures but when they come to visit as these did with a purpose which may be boisterous playing or perhaps to menace it is a reminder that they are apex predators. Not knowing what damage they did or how much they could do was the most alarming part of our encounter.

We checked the bilges for water and they were dry. The steering gear is two rudders but with a catamaran we can steer using the two engines. There were dozens of hard contacts between the orcas and the rudders so thankfully the steering gear was functioning ok.

On the basis the orcas have moved down from Finisterre heading south it was important to move with all speed to Gibraltar our destination and avoid another encounter.

Видео 2020 Orca attack Porto канала David Smith