The end sometimes justifies the means. Fear of the ongoing orca attacks on sailing yachts off the coasts of Spain and Portugal has led to some people arming themselves martially to counter the oar-eating animals. Sometimes more, sometimes less discreetly, there are reports of pyrotechnics, harpoons and firearms that crews have used or are at least considering using to defend their boats.
A Swedish couple, who were on a long voyage off the Portuguese coast in their Colin Archer "Wilma" at the end of October, took the advice of local fishermen and prepared themselves a little more defensively for a possible confrontation with orcas: with fine sand from the beach, which they filled into bags and stored ready to hand in the cockpit.
When a group of orcas actually attacked in the early hours of 29 October this year and the first blow shook the rudder, the Swedes first started the engine to scare off the whales with the propeller, which sits directly on the rudder. After the second blow, they began to scatter sand over the rudder into the water. "We could hardly believe it ourselves," Helena Norberg tells YACHT, "but the attack stopped immediately and the orcas fled. The fishermen had told us that the whales instinctively avoid sandy water to protect their breathing holes. Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that our very robust ship with the stainless steel rudder blade has spoiled their appetite, but we believe that our defence technique with sand is very effective and can drive the animals away naturally."
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The Swedes had the "Wilma" craned out in Amora near Lisbon as a precaution, but were unable to find any sign of damage to the boat. They are planning to cross the Atlantic next and are also considering tackling the Northwest Passage. In addition to sufficient provisions, they will probably always have one or two bags of sand on board. On their blog www.projektsunshine.se they report on their journey.
Since 2020, sailing boats have been repeatedly harassed, rammed and, in particular, their rudder blades nibbled - mostly sailing yachts up to 15 metres in length. The Spanish government has therefore repeatedly had to close particularly affected areas to smaller sailing vessels. Two sailing yachts have sunk so far due to orca attacks.
