Spain has temporarily prohibited yachting across 100 kilometres of its northwestern coast after orca whales apparently got carried away while playing and damaged several sailboats.
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Spain's transport ministry issued the week-long prohibition for sailboats under 15m-long starting on Tuesday.
It said the area covered by the ban meant to protect both boats and maritime mammals and could be extended to "follow the migration routes" of the whales.
Boats can leave port to go into the open sea between the capes of the Priorino Grande and la Punta de Estaca de Bares but they must not remain near the coast off the country's northwestern tip.
The ministry said the first reported incident occurred on August 19.
Since then, it said an unspecified number of sailboats have been damaged by orcas, with some needing assistance from Spain's maritime rescue service after their rudders were wrecked.
Biologist Bruno Diaz of the local Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute said the orcas were most likely just playing a bit too rough.
He said orcas, like other cetaceans such as dolphins, like to swim alongside boats.
Running into hulls is rare but he believed it was likely done by "immature teenage" orcas getting rowdy.
Australian Associated Press
