Spain refers shooting of orca Toñi in Portuguese waters to prosecutors

The whale, known as 'the grandmother', is the oldest member of the orca population in the Strait of Gibraltar and Gulf of Cadiz. In mid-August, she was spotted with around ten pellet wounds in her dorsal fin.

After launching an investigation into the incident, the ministry has sent a report containing details of its preliminary inquiries to the environmental prosecutor over a possible offence involving a protected species.

The investigation points to a Spanish-flagged vessel that allegedly fired at Toñi while she was in Portuguese waters. The Spanish government has also asked the Guardia Civil's central environmental operations unit (Ucoma) to help identify those potentially responsible and, where appropriate, question them.

Investigators are also checking the administrative and documentary status of the ownership and use of any weapons involved. They will also prepare a ballistic expert report and carry out any other inquiries that could help establish what happened.

Minister for Ecological Transition Sara Aagesen stated that the orca is a vulnerable species protected by law. She said her ministry would continue working with prosecutors, the Guardia Civil and the Portuguese authorities to establish the facts and "ensure that this environmental harm does not go unpunished".

The ministry will also continue to monitor Toñi's recovery. She was recently spotted swimming with a group of other orcas in Galician waters. The available evidence suggests that her injuries are healing well.

Environmental officers began preliminary investigative work on 13 August, after receiving information from conservation organisation WeWhale about the sighting of an orca with injuries to her dorsal fin.

Spain and Portugal are cooperating in their responses to the incident.

The orca population in the Strait of Gibraltar and Gulf of Cadiz has vulnerable status under Spain's catalogue of threatened species. According to law, there is a ban on "any action intended to kill, capture, pursue or disturb" the animals.

Breaches of the legislation can result in fines of up to two million euros, as well as criminal liability.

Since the summer of 2020, orcas from the Strait of Gibraltar and Gulf of Cadiz population have been involved in a number of interactions with vessels in Atlantic waters around the Iberian Peninsula.

In response, Spain's Ministry of Transport and the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge issue guidance for sailors who encounter or interact with orcas in the Atlantic. The aim is to prevent or minimise risks to people and vessels while also protecting the whales themselves.

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