Orca attacks are becoming a bigger threat for sailors

A widening range

Orcas are becoming a growing concern for sailors. Boat interactions that a few years ago were mostly associated with the Strait of Gibraltar and the Portuguese coast are now being reported further north too — along Spain's Atlantic coast, into the Bay of Biscay, and close to the French coast. The pattern is usually similar: a group of orcas approaches the stern and works on the rudder, sometimes breaking off pieces of it. Boats rarely sink, but the fright is real, and a rudder repair mid-passage is nobody's idea of a good day.

Why this matters for the Sea Spotter community

Sea Spotter has always let sailors share marine wildlife sightings — dolphins, whales, orcas. But an orca sighting nearby isn't just a nice thing to log. If it's behaving aggressively, that's information that can genuinely help someone else change course, slow down, or simply stay alert.

New: Orca Attack Alerts

That's why we added a way to warn other sailors immediately. On the sighting report screen, hold the alert button to send a push notification to every boat within 50 nautical miles — not just people subscribed to that region, like a normal sighting, but everyone nearby, right away.

To receive one of these alerts yourself, turn on Safety Alerts in Profile > Settings. It's separate from regular push notifications, so you can enable just the safety alerts without getting notified about every dolphin sighting in the area.

Report responsibly

The alert button needs to be held down for a moment, on purpose — this is for a real threat, not for every distant orca sighting. If you're out on the water and see aggressive behaviour, you now know what to do.

Fair winds — and hopefully you never need to use this one.