Boat Sunk by Pod of Orcas; Sea Shepherd Disputes Bladed Rudder as Deterrent
In a recent incident off the coast of Spain, the British-flagged Beneteau 393 Bonhomme William sank after an encounter with a pod of five orcas. The international yacht delivery group Halcyon Yachts issued a warning on its Facebook page for “all vessels near Barbate and Tarifa.” The UK publication Marine Industry News reported on the incident, saying the boat had been attacked over a two-hour period.
The Bonhomme William was on a 10-day voyage from Vilamoura, Portugal, to Greece. They were just 22 hours into their journey when five orcas circled the 39-ft vessel and, in what the skipper Robert Powell called “a coordinated assault,” took turns ramming the boat.
“On the second hit, I looked over the back of the boat, and I could see the dark shape of a killer whale in the water,” the New York Post reported. The orcas first targeted the rudder, which became useless, and then moved to attack the hull, keel and stern.
“They were circling. It was like watching wolves hunt,” Powell said. “They were taking it in turns to come in — sometimes two would come in at the same time and hit it. So obviously pretty terrifying.”
Powell, who was celebrating his birthday aboard the boat, said he tried “everything from dropping firecrackers in the water and turning off the engine to deter the attack, but the pod was determined.”
When the attack occurred, on the evening of July 24, the Bonhomme William sent out a distress call that was received by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre at Tarifa, Spain. The sailboat’s crew reported that their vessel had been disabled by orcas and was adrift about two miles off Punta Camarinal. As the rescue vessel was underway, the Bonhomme William radioed to report they were still being struck by the orcas. The boat began taking on water. The crew deployed their liferaft but were advised to stay on the yacht while the orcas were still in the vicinity.
The rescue boat arrived on scene, rescued the three sailors, and retrieved some of the hazardous materials aboard the yacht. By the time they departed the scene, Bonhomme William was already partially submerged with its stern in the air, and it later sank. Bonhomme William’s three crewmembers were taken to shore in Cadiz.
Just days later, in Barbate Marina, also in Cadiz, Sea Shepherd France (SSF) was collecting footage of what it says is a rudder lined with sharpened blades, presumably to act as a deterrent against orca attacks.
“We filmed this French boat in Barbate marina,” SSF told Marine Industry News. The footage below was released on July 28. “It is now back on the water.”
Together with WeWhale, SSF has been patrolling the Iberian coastline, aiming to prevent any reprisals against the orcas after they have “‘interacted’ with vessels.” They also say “no one has been injured in the orca interactions,” and that the Iberian killer whale subspecies is critically endangered.
SSF says they were told by local police that while orcas are strictly protected by law, “There is a grey area regarding this type of equipment, which can cause them injury.” The organization is putting together a complaint on the grounds of “‘attempted destruction of a protected species’.”
SSF’s X feed includes a statement of their intentions regarding the protection of Iberian orcas.
We’ve shared several reports on orca incidents, with recent hypotheses suggesting the orcas are simply bored teenagers.
Writer needs to read their work for typos.
Guess I have to side with the Orcas. Their Home.
Are you saying people who hike in the forest can’t complain if the bears bite? I don’t look for trouble, but I will fight back. Do you have any suggestions on how to deter them, or negotiate an equitable co-existence?
If the bears in that forest were a critically endangered sub-species of bear, then no, you would not be allowed to fight back and would instead stop hiking there. tough situation, but ultimately, it’s their home first.
Orcas are intelligent and may have reasons for bashing a boat that we don’t recognize. I don’t see that sharp fins attached to a rudder will be a lasting deterrent. But I see that this might encourage orcas to change their strategy or even reason for bashing a boat.
Why not contact a marine biologist who is expert on orcas and behavior? Amateur solutions to potentially deadly encounters with orcas are foolish examples of people wanting to claim power over their sailing vessel (VS.) orcas. It’s not a war with them, nor a game, at least on our side.
So far as I’m aware, humans have the upper hand in wildlife encounters. Any endangerment of creatures and people is solely the responsibility and choice of people. We always have a choice. Animals are seldom aware of choice, but act instinctively, and as is obvious in so many species, they also act from their emotional centers (anger, fear), and even their hearts. But as most sailors and lovers of the sea and sea life are aware, we can indeed foster exceptionally positive relationships with sea life. I hope people don’t give up on that recurring option. Probably the course of human adaptation, life, and suffering will depend more and more on our awareness of this option and, some might say, obligation as environmental changes occur that are beyond each individual’s willingness to sufficiently mitigate in order to foster or preserve beautiful encounters with Nature, whether orcas, dolphins, or coral. And of course, there are those who eat the animals, which will be increasingly costly and competitive with fish and mammals higher up on the food chain as fisheries are shifted in locale, migration, or become so depleted they are not worth the trouble.
“Why not contact a marine biologist who is expert on Orcas as and behavior?” Really? Where have you been for the last several years? Marine biologists have said repeatedly they HAVE NO IDEA why these Orcas are doing this. Orcas are distributed over much of the world’s oceans, but these attacks are only happening in this specific area, offshore from only a small part of the Iberian peninsula. It seems to be a learned behavior. Absent any negative reinforcement, this behavior may be taught to an expanding number of Orcas. But nobody will dare suggest that negative reinforcement should be applied.
How would you possibly know what animals are thinking? Its just an egotistical fallacy to assume that ” animals act primarily by instinct” how would you possibly know that unless you can reac their thoughts.
Now you are suggesting people don’t eat meat because of the whale attack? Where did that leap come from? And in cali we never run out of fish because newsom is giving away our water supply to the salmon.
Peter and Kent — It appears that neither one of you clicked the link at the end of the story, which goes to our June 12 ‘Lectronic: “Experts: Orcas ‘Attacking’ Boats Are Actually Just Bored Teenagers.” A research group made up of more than a dozen orca experts, including biologists, government officials and marine industry representatives, has spent years studying the incidents, and hypotheisized that “the orcas just want to have fun, and in the vast and empty open waters, the boats’ rudders are a prime toy.”
Peter — Please try to imagine yourself sailing (or preparing to sail) past the Iberian Peninsula, unsure of whether killer whales were going to try and knock off your rudder. (Even if it was because they just wanted to play with you!) Is someone who fears for their safety and their boat a “foolish example” who is attempting to “claim power?”
Goodness sake. Orcas kill for fun. They are well documented for killing other sea creature and only eating the liver. Your long, emotional indulgent tirade against humans is silly to say the least. It was a sailboat. What more ecological benign form of transportation is there. BTW humans are in peril each time this happens. What if these so called teenage Orcas change the game to get the humans in the water and do fun things with them. Some logic and common sense and real action is required. How long has this Orca game been going on. It seems to be getting more and more common.
There isn’t much more to say about Peter Metcalf’s excellent and thoughtful comments. I just want to add, that speaking about the animal kingdom in terms of human emotions, such as “being bored”, is a risky assumption. Free living orcas in a large pod are most likely never “bored teenagers”, but what they do often most likely can be applied here: Playing, like most other species do. Learning by playing. When orcas attack a gray whale they also ‘ram’ it in similar fashion. Playing is what they often do, not being aware, of course, that they are risking some sailor’s lives. They learn to use ‘toys’ like a pet can learn it, and they improve their skills playing with it over time. If they like it, they seek out this “toy” more often than others, so it happens more often that small boats may becoming the victim of their games lately.
But he’s making leaps, and saying so much about the earth changing etc. It will be us that are gone while earth survives, go listen to George Carlin for a laugh.
I think an underwater speaker sending out some nice vocals, or acoustic orchestral sounds, might be better than those little blades on the rudder. If that doesn’t work, blast out some deep funk and maybe they start dancing.
Hey Orcas, there’s a saying around here.
“FAFO” .
Leave us alone and we’ll leave YOU alone.
So far no deterrent is known to work, and no one knows the reasons for these attacks.
The best advice seems to be to stay in very shallow water when passing the Spanish and Portuguese coasts as the orcas fish in deeper water.
I know of yachtsmen who have cancelled cruises along these coasts due to the risk of attack.
Mark — Please click the link at the end of the story. There is a working as to the reason for the “attacks.”
Tim, not too comforting if you are on the vessel being attacked and a “working theory”….but at least it suggests that they may not be interested in eating you! Bored teenagers are often accused of doing quite a bit of collateral damage while having fun… we have all been there!
Lack of reaction turned separate and sporadical incident into widespread learned behaviour.
Sometimes we need to balance between safety and ecology.
Especially when there is a risk that more orcas will pick up this behaviour. Everyone should have right to self defense.
maybe we stop invading the waters where we are not welcome.
Has anyone tried to use underwater noise to stop the attacks? If could begin with intermittent (timed with each blow to the boat) low volume bursts, then louder with variable frequency if needed. Given their reliance on echo location, such deterrence may be effective. This would require an underwater speaker or transducer, and the ability to modify its output.
Sorry to hear of the sinking! After being around Humpback whales off Maui for 13 winters I would do the following (never had humpbacks touch my sailboat except baby who scratched backside as mama@40’ hung out on other side to nurse on demand): turn off all electronics & go quiet-if attacks persist I would enter water with female crew for Orca inspection & to know we are no threat!
People may not like this ,but, stop moving drop small amount of diesel around your boat, all animals strongly dislike like diesel. I would try it before losing my boat.
I’m with DT3. If they can learn to do it, they can learn not to. It’s a matter of time before someone or an entire family or crew is killed. Can you imagine getting into a life raft adrift. How much fun would they have with that before everyone was in the water. I love and respect nature but this is not even natural behavior. Something needs to be done to change the orcas behavior. SSF and WeWhale need to put on their big people pants and step into reality, maybe even help with a solution. Leave them alone is clearly not a solution.