Humans have always been in conflict with other animals over food sources and territorial rights. Take for example the constant attacks on villages in Africa and India by herds of elephants. The increased numbers of shark attacks in Australia probably has a slightly different root cause. And in North America grizzly and black bear attacks are becoming more common. But what makes the current Orca situation off the coast of Spain so different is the complete lack of factually based evidence for a motive.

More recently, official guidance has diverged on what to do in the event of an interaction. Portuguese authorities advise skippers to 'play dead' or reverse if conditions permit. Whereas the Spanish authorities advise motoring away as fast as possible towards shallower water.

One weekend, as we were looking for an adventure, it occurred to me that an activity on water, that’s been going on for over 500 years, probably involved wooden boats. So we rugged up and climbed aboard our bicycles and cycled south.

As with all wooden working boats the "albuferenc" boats (or "barcas" as they are know locally), have been designed by their function and environment, rather than individual people. They are flat-bottomed allowing them to work in for the shallow waters of the lagoon and the canals running between rice fields and they're quite different from the heavier fishing boats once used used along the Mediterranean coast and on the beaches just a few miles to the east of the lagoon.