The Riddle of the Orcas

The behavior of a group of orcas attacking sailboats off the coasts of Spain, Portugal and in the Strait of Gibraltar is puzzling and leaves room for much speculation: Is the ocean fighting back? Are killer whales avenging the death of a baby in one of the world's busiest waterways? Has a group of orcas even declared humans to be their enemy? Are they defending their habitat from fishermen who have brought their food source, bluefin tuna, to the brink of extinction? Are the orcas fighting back against being forced out of a habitat that is theirs? Or is it all perhaps just a game with an unpredictable outcome? What seems like a detail from Frank Schätzing's novel 'The Swarm' has become reality. Dramatic scenes are unfolding off the coast of Portugal, Spain and in the Strait of Gibraltar: Orcas are attacking sailboats, destroying their rudder systems and rendering them unable to maneuver. The traumatized crews have to watch helplessly as their dream of sailing is literally torn to pieces. At sea, they are easy prey for the giants, which attack the boats' rudders in small groups and force the crews to send a call for help to the coast guard or, in extreme cases, to abandon their sinking vessel. Hundreds of such incidents have been documented. But what's behind them? One question looms: can we still create a sustainable future for humans and orcas in the Strait of Gibraltar and off the coasts of the Iberian Peninsula? Thomas Käsbohrer takes up the trail of the riddle of the orcas. He talks to affected sailors, marine biologists, conservationists and animal experts and follows the route of the orcas from the coasts of Western Europe to British Columbia and Antarctica. It is a search into a great unknown and into the question of how far man has penetrated into a natural environment that is not his. A gripping book that sheds light on the riddle of the orcas.

Since his abrupt career end as head of a publishing company, Thomas Käsbohrer has used the summer half-year to sail single-handed along Europe's coasts from Italy to Greece and Turkey and across the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar to the Hebrides off northern Scotland and to Ireland. And the winter half-year to write about these journeys in his Bavarian homeland off the Alps. The journalist and historian is uniquely gifted at weaving together scientific facts and stories, and has made a name for himself as a chronicler of untold lives. He condenses his experiences into thought-provoking travel and adventure narratives that revolve around the adventure that begins when we leave home. After his first book "Einmal München - Antalya, bitte." ("One time Munich - Antalya, please."), a description of a single-handed journey on his small sailboat LEVJE, he published "Die vergessenen Inseln - Eine Reise durch die Geschichte der Welt ("The Forgotten Islands - A Journey through the History of the World"), for which he was praised by the SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG as a "Captain in a sea of words." His book "Auf dem Meer zu Hause" ("At home at Sea"), covers his solo sailing voyages from the Italian island of Sicily to the Hebrides off northern Scotland. It is also published by Penguin/Random House. In his sailing books, as well as his mountain rescue books, he meticulously seeks to explore what happens to us when we venture too far into seemingly familiar nature and must go beyond ourselves in extreme situations. During his travels, he creates the blog marepiu.blogspot.com - one of the most read sailing and adventure blogs in Germany with over 800,000 visits in the last eight years. The blog loosely follows the route Thomas Käsbohrer sails with his boat. Thomas also translated and edited the classic sailing book by Lin & Larry Pardey "Storm Tactics", published in Germany by millemari. After his own encounters with orcas and other large dolphin species, their behavior intrigues him more and more. He picks up the trail of the riddle of the orcas, examining facts, myths and mysteries, to get to what is causing their interactions and attacks on boats in this first book about orcas' behavior off the Iberian Peninsula.