I remember reading about this in September, and wondered if it will keep going, and be excluded from insurance cover. We've extended our cruising insurance as far as La Corunna for the last couple of years, hoping to get that far south, but I suspect we won't next year. We got to within 140 miles or so from Spain in 2018, but were stopped by gales.
Rob, a 5 tonne killing machine, 2m underwater, is unlikely to be bothered much by a boat hook. I suspect that if you really managed to annoy them, they might not be quite so gentle....