Environment & Climate 3 min read 2h ago · Updated August 25, 2026 at 03:22 UTC

Matriarch Orca Shot from Spanish Vessel

Toñi, a 60-year-old Iberian orca matriarch, was found with approximately ten pellet wounds on her dorsal fin after being spotted on 10 August near the Strait of Gibraltar.
Spanish ministry sources say initial inquiries point to a Spanish-flagged vessel operating in Portuguese jurisdictional waters as responsible for the shooting.
The Iberian orca population is classified as critically endangered by the IUCN and numbered just 27 individuals in the most recent count.

Toñi, the oldest known matriarch of the Iberian orca population and a figure of considerable scientific importance, was found with approximately ten pellet wounds on her dorsal fin after being spotted on 10 August in the Strait of Gibraltar. Spain's Ministry for Ecological Transition has opened an investigation, and initial inquiries, according to ministry sources, "indicate that the facts occurred in waters of Portuguese jurisdiction by a vessel flying a Spanish flag."

What the investigation has established so far

Toñi, also known as La Abuela — The Grandmother — is approximately 60 years old and is the leader of one of the sub-groups within the critically endangered Iberian orca population. Researchers believe the shooting took place somewhere along the Portuguese coastline between Faro and the Strait of Gibraltar. When the orca had last been observed near Faro, she bore no visible injuries, having travelled south from Galicia along the Atlantic seaboard accompanied by Pingu, her adoptive son, and Scarlet, another female who recently gave birth to a calf.

Janek Andre, president of the conservation association We Whale/Iberian Orca Guardians, confirmed that Toñi was observed last week in the Algarve alongside both companions, and that she appears to be in reasonable condition despite her injuries. Scientists had feared the wounds could trigger infection; at her age, they note, immune function is less robust than in younger animals, and some pellets are suspected to remain lodged in the fin.

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The conflict between orcas and vessels

Toñi belongs to a group that includes what researchers have labelled the gladis — individual orcas that approach vessels, engage in physical contact with them, and in certain documented cases have caused boats to sink. The origin of this behaviour remains under scientific investigation. This year, Toñi herself began participating in such interactions, including direct physical contact with vessels. Andre suggested the shooting may be connected to this tension between the orcas and those at sea, but added that "firing at them can never be an acceptable response."

A species on the edge

The wider context lends urgency to the case. The Iberian orca is classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and as vulnerable under Spain's national catalogue of threatened species. The population is shrinking: the most recent count recorded only 27 living individuals. Andre stressed the importance of reducing pressure on the group at a moment of such demographic fragility.

Investigation ongoing, authorship unresolved

The ministry was careful to note that proceedings remain at a preliminary stage, and that "no definitive conclusion can yet be established about the authorship of the facts." Investigators from the Directorate General for Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification are working alongside Portuguese authorities and have begun taking statements from a number of individuals. Once that phase concludes, authorities will consider whether to refer the matter to the Guardia Civil's nature protection unit, Seprona, and to the public prosecutor. The identity of the vessel and those responsible for the shooting has not been confirmed.

##OrcaConservation ##IberianOrca ##MarineWildlife

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