When dorsal fins come into view, the sailor’s heart usually rejoices. Soon dolphins will be accompanying the boat, showing off their artistic skills. Near the Spanish and Portuguese coasts, however, the heart starts racing. Wasn’t that the black dorsal fin of an orca?

Anyone who has seen one in the wild will tell you there is no mistaking it. Nevertheless, there is always a moment when we hold our breath. Mostly because the accounts of skippers whose sailing boats have been approached by a pod of whales are impressive, and the number of fateful encounters is increasing. No one can say for sure why. Play instinct, aggression following bad experiences, stress caused by changing environmental conditions and human intervention in their habitat: there are many possible explanations.

In any case, some boats are only glanced at by the whales, some are touched, some are damaged, some are sunk. To avoid taking any additional risks, we stick to the sparse recommendations. We sail during the day and stay as close to shore as possible. At best we sail along the 20 metre line. This is not always possible on the rugged and steep Atlantic coast, otherwise we would have other problems to deal with.

In the end, we had no contact with whales in either Spain or Portugal and were delighted to have spent so much time in both countries. However, some sailors choose alternative routes to reach the south or the Mediterranean without worrying. For example, the Canal du Midi in France, direct from England to Madeira or the Canary Islands. You can get an idea of orca activity here. Otherwise the odd horror story makes it into the daily media.