Officials in Spain have launched an investigation after the sighting of an orca with suspected gunshot wounds in the Strait of Gibraltar.
As the Guardian reports, the matriarch of an orca pod that’s become infamous for ramming boats off the coast of Spain in recent years has been photographed by marine wildlife conservationists with holes in her dorsal fin.
Spain’s environment ministry stated on Friday (14 August) that these markings on the orca known as Toñi were “consistent with shots from a pellet gun”.
The ministry has reportedly been in touch with officials in Portugal as Toñi’s apparent wounds were discovered after the orca pod had travelled south from waters off Faro.
The orcas have gained notoriety since 2020 for “attacking” vessels in and around the Strait of Gibraltar, sinking at least four boats.
Marine science experts, however, have pushed back against such claims, suggesting the orcas are much more likely engaging in hunting practice or play for an “adrenaline shot” than coordinating attacks.
“Seeing Toñi, la abuela [the grandmother], like this is devastating,” said Janek Andre, co-founder of Iberian Orca Guardians.
“If someone has deliberately fired a shotgun at her, this is not only an act of extreme cruelty against an individual animal. It is an attack on one of the last remaining members of a critically endangered population.”
The Guardian has more on the story HERE.
