Orca Toñi in Strait of Gibraltar has 10 holes in fin from suspected shooting

The Ministry for Ecological Transition has opened an inquiry after Toñi, the oldest orca in the Strait of Gibraltar, was found with pellet wounds on her dorsal fin. Toñi is around 60 years old and is known among researchers as the "grandmother" of the population of orcas that moves between the Strait of Gibraltar and the Gulf of Cadiz. This week she has appeared with as many as ten marks on her dorsal fin and back which, according to the organisations that monitor her, were not there in photographs taken weeks earlier. It was the conservation group WeWhale that sounded the alarm, after comparing the animal’s current condition with its previous photographic record. Janek Andre, founder of WeWhale and Iberian Orca Guardians, explained that the injuries now seen on the fin and back are, in his view, consistent with the impact of a shotgun blast. The Atlantic Orca Working Group has gone further in its technical analysis. According to this collective, the injuries could correspond to lead pellets of around 9 millimetres, similar to those used in buckshot cartridges for wild boar. It points out that this type of ammunition usually fires nine projectiles in three rows of three, a pattern they consider consistent with the arrangement of the marks found on the animal. Investigation under way The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge learned of the case on the afternoon of 11 August, through information sent by WeWhale (source in Spanish), an organisation that operates in the area with administrative authorisation. The following day, the Directorate General for Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification opened preliminary proceedings to clarify the facts and, where appropriate, initiate sanctioning proceedings against those responsible. The vice-president and minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, confirmed via the social network Bluesky that the orca showed marks consistent with pellet shots and stressed that this is a vulnerable species, so any harm caused to it constitutes a serious offence. CIRCE has also joined this work. The organisation has been carrying out scientific monitoring of Iberian orcas since 1999 and has a photographic archive of Toñi spanning more than two decades. The organisation has stated that, before determining the origin of the injuries, it is necessary to review the available images in detail, compare them with the historical series and carry out fresh direct monitoring of the individual and its group. For the moment, none of the authorities involved has officially confirmed that the injuries were caused by a shot, although that remains the main working hypothesis. What the law says and how to act if you encounter an orca The orca population in the Strait of Gibraltar and the Gulf of Cadiz is listed as vulnerable in the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species. Article 57 of Law 42/2007 on Natural Heritage and Biodiversity prohibits any action aimed at killing, capturing, pursuing or harassing specimens included in that catalogue. Specific regulations on the protection of cetaceans add further restrictions: no vessel may approach closer than 500 metres, make contact with the animals, swim with them, feed them, obstruct their trajectory, split up groups or emit loud sounds to attract or scare them away. In the critical area of the Ensenada de Barbate, Conil and the Banco Majuán, orca watching is also prohibited between 1 March and 31 August. Anyone who fails to comply with these measures faces fines of up to two million euros and criminal liability, according to MITECO itself. Since 2020 there has been a rise in interactions between these orcas and vessels sailing through the Strait and the Gulf of Cadiz. That is why the Ministry of Transport and MITECO recommend avoiding navigation in the area between April and August and, if an encounter with the animal does occur, heading towards the coast, avoiding any manoeuvre that could harm it, keeping people away from the gunwale and notifying the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre. Toñi’s case has once again put the spotlight on this protected population. Organisations working in the area insist that these animals need protection, not reprisals.