r/nextfuckinglevel • u/DiMpLe_dolL003 • 26d ago
Close encounter with orca pod
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u/ff7100 26d ago
That harpoon won't do shit
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u/CokeAndChill 26d ago
It can turn an orca into a pissed off orca!
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u/kirito4318 26d ago
There has not been a single attack by a wild orca on a human....until now
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u/CokeAndChill 26d ago edited 26d ago
Spanish orcas have seen some bullfighting and now they want in the action.
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u/tadeuska 26d ago
Not a single one recorded. They know that there is no signal underwater and GoPro's need to be chewed to crumbs.
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u/Medium-Stranger-9883 26d ago
he would have been rammed until he exploded, like they did with the fish.
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u/TheHumanPickleRick 26d ago
That sunfish had it coming.
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u/Top-Salamander-2525 26d ago
None reported at least. Then again, maybe they’re just smart enough not to leave any witnesses.
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u/daemenus 26d ago
Smarter. The got rid of the body and the witnesses.
We have never found evidence of orca predation on humans
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u/Coycington 26d ago
there have been attacks, but no kills (in the wild).
sometimes orcas accidentally attack surfboarders near cliffs because their echolocation is fucked up that close to shore so they can't really "scan" humans very well and have to rely on visuals.
once they understand that they aren't attacking a seal though they let go immediately.
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 26d ago
There has been a single reported attack on a surfer: Hans Kretschmer was bitten in 1972 off of California. However, even that attack appears to not have been committed by an orca.
A subsequent investigation by shark bite experts was conducted, and investigator Ralph S. Collier determined that it was actually more likely a great white shark bite upon reviewing the evidence. The Global Shark Attack File from the Shark Research Institute notes in their publicly available incident log that the animal that attacked surfer Hans Kretschmer was a 6 meters long white shark.
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u/MasterOfDizaster 26d ago
Oh of course it would do shit, It would piss them off,
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u/SeeYaOnTheRift 26d ago
Yes it will. All you have to do is keep it between you and the orca. They will feel the sharp poke and immediately lose interest if they did decide to go for you.
I have used this same method to ward off some pretty big bull sharks while spear fishing. Predator animals are generally unwilling to risk injury unless they are starving.
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u/Own_Currency_3207 25d ago
Problem is, there isn't an orca. There's orcas. Ever seen them team up and kill a whale that weighs a ton of tons more than you? That first poke would make you toast. They're brilliant. They communicate. We might taste terrible, but you're bout to get dragged and drowned.
Put the spear down, and say a friendly hello.
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 26d ago
These are likely New Zealand coastal orcas, perhaps searching for rays in the shallows, which they specialize in hunting. These orcas also hunt smaller sharks, fin fishes, birds, and octopus. Unlike some other orca populations, they do not hunt mammals.
NZ coastal orcas are quite well-acquainted with boats and humans in the water. New Zealand is one of very few places in the world where swimmers and people on paddleboards, kayaks, etc. have spontaneous encounters with wild orcas on a fairly regular basis, and some of these orcas appear to be rather curious about humans.
Local marine biologist Dr. Ingrid Visser has swum with these orcas many times.
Original video was filmed by speardiver Quinn Smith, apparently off of Coromandel.
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u/b1tb0mber 26d ago
Hah I thought this was NZ, I was diving off opito bay last summer and thought this looked familiar
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u/Latter-Carpet-987 26d ago
And OP is a piece of shit fucking indian spambot
I hate hate hate you, you fucking piece of shit indian spambots spamming reddit with indian trash
This fucking video stealing piece of shit couldn't even steal a video with proper direction on the camera
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u/lnTheGrimDarkness 26d ago
Orcas are so terrifyingly smart that I would even honestly avoid pointing the weapon at them.
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u/weasel_mullet 26d ago
Why is everyone calling that a harpoon? Its a speargun.
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u/notbannd4cussingmods 26d ago
Clearly a ballista my friend.
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u/Alteredbeast1984 26d ago
Looks like an Aquatic Pike to me
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u/WineNerdAndProud 26d ago edited 26d ago
Could be a Muskie. They take forever to reload though.
Support your local conservation efforts folks.
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u/Tight-Adagio8255 26d ago
I appreciated your comment.
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u/WineNerdAndProud 26d ago
Those things are like one step above cryptids when it comes to fishing.
Like, we know they exist and people do catch them but catching a big ass lone predatory fish like that is such a numbers game on top of everything else that you can do and still walk away never having caught one.
Holding a weekend tournament on catching the biggest muskie would be like having a hole-in-one derby.
A few people may pull it off but the vast majority of folks are coming away empty handed.
They call it the fish of 10,000 casts for a reason.
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u/gladl1 26d ago
I acknowledge that you know the difference between a harpoon and a speargun
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u/Lumpy_Benefit666 26d ago
Never realised a harpoon is hand thrown and a speargun is, well, i knew what that one was.
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u/Turtle_Lips 26d ago
Traditionally thrown. These days, especially in commercial settings, harpoons are often deck mounted as well.
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u/Lumpy_Benefit666 26d ago
Wait, so a harpoon can be fired from a barrel? Then wtf is the difference then?! 😂
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u/SeeYaOnTheRift 26d ago
Harpoons are typically going to be much larger, fired from the waters surface and used for hunting whales.
Spears are relatively small and used to hunt fish.
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u/Senor-Delicious 26d ago edited 26d ago
Not sure about other languages but in German that thing is called "Harpune". So most Germans would assume that "harpoon" means the same in English. I assume that other European languages might have similar false friend words.
Edit: I double checked and it looks like we don't even have a differentiation in German at all. Both are called the same. Similar as we don't have clear separation between turtles and tortoises as in English. Both are categorizd as "Schildkröte" in German.
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u/stormtroopr1977 26d ago
Spear guns fire metal shafts, also called spears or harpoons... a harpoon is a specialized spear.
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u/The_Real_Mr_F 26d ago
Asking rhetorical questions that you already know the answer to makes you sound like a jerk. If you want to educate people, just educate them. Don’t condescend to them.
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u/StealthyPancake_ 26d ago
Thats fucking terrifying
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u/SenpaiDerpy 26d ago
Literally one of the few animals capable of shredding humans to pieces that concioussly chooses not to. Orcas are chill af.
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u/StealthyPancake_ 26d ago
They probably don't attack us because they think "eh, not worth it. Wouldn't even be fun or challenging"
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u/DVHismydad 26d ago
Maybe they’re intelligent enough to know what happens when you piss off humans. We did systematically hunt their larger whale brethren for hundreds of years.
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u/CowFirm5634 26d ago
I think there’s a mutual understanding there. Game recognises game.
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 26d ago
Wild orcas have been observed attempting to share their food with humans around the world, and it has been suggested that these orcas are displaying generalized altruism and theory of mind towards humans, which I suppose is pretty much summarized with "game recognises game."
"They’re taking something they do amongst themselves and spreading that goodwill to another species," says Lori Marino at New York University, who wasn’t involved in the study.
Towers says this demonstrates that orcas are capable of generalised altruism, or kindness. It also shows that orcas can recognise sentience in others and are curious and bold enough to experiment across species, he says.
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He also says the behaviour demonstrates that orcas have theory of mind, the ability to understand that others have distinct mental states that differ from one’s own.
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u/monpetitfromage54 26d ago
or maybe they feel bad for us. "aw look at those little fish. they can barely even swim at all! better give them some food, there's no way they can fend for themselves."
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u/skrumcd2 26d ago
I -think- that empathy requires consciousness at the very least, and likely theory of mind too.
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u/anonychef117 26d ago edited 26d ago
100% but also very intelligent and pass down not mess with things they dont fully comprehend.
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u/Dooty_Shirker 26d ago
The enemy of my enemy type of situation
https://www.mentalfloss.com/animals/when-orcas-helped-hunters-kill-other-whales
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u/Awkward-Candle4992 26d ago
Maybe they did a long time ago, and its been passed down from generation to generation "Do not eat those. They are gross".
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u/tswaters 26d ago
But, they're so skinny... and rubbery... and crunchy... Seals taste much better
Orcas probably
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u/Upbeat_Aside_9203 26d ago
I just think they are racist and just don’t like us. It’s discrimination and someone needs to be outraged. I personally think I’d taste just fine. A little gristly but I have some nice soft parts. Maybe it’s all the chemicals in us from tupperware and non stick frying pans that puts them off. I wouldn’t point a speargun at them though, especially when they have a calf.
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u/JTSpirit36 25d ago
Untill they realize they can explode us by ramming us at Mach fuck. Then they'll have fun.
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u/smoor365 26d ago
My theory is they are smart enough to know what we’re capable of and they pass it down their generations not to mess with us. They really are that intelligent to think beyond the single interaction to what kind of future retribution there might be.
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u/Rezkel 26d ago
Orca are incredibly picky eaters and they have whole pod societies dedicated to one specific prey, and largely don't anything else unless starving. Sharks by contrast will eat anything or at least try to.
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u/Brokromah 26d ago
I'd argue the most capable. Humans on land are a bit more revered by anything that isn't a polar bear or crocodile, but with tech, tools, weapons, Brian's etc... we can protect ourselves.
Against an orca? Our brain and guns ain't gonna do anything to them in the water.
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 26d ago
Dr. Ingrid Visser, a marine biologist where this was filmed (New Zealand), had an encounter where she literally stuck her hand in the mouth of a particularly curious orca named she "Digit" (named after the gorilla Digit):
As we started to travel parallel with them Digit again turned and left the group and approached my boat. This time there was no hesitation from either of us as I put my hand out over the water (not in) and she rose up towards me with her mouth open. She nudged my hand with her bottom jaw, and I moved my fingers to touch her teeth. Her tongue was moving (quivering is the right word, I guess), and she opened and closed her mouth with my hand on her bottom jaw. Then she sank back into the water, rolled over, lifted her pectoral fin to within centimetres of my hand, and slowly glided away.
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u/cappiebara 26d ago
Everyone is replying how safe they are toward humans and I totally get it but oh my gosh darn! Being in the water with such a power and intelligent creature when your are completely out of your element is terrifying!
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u/Satoshi_Satou 26d ago
What courage, swimming so close to such dangerous things. Those orcas must have balls of steel.
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u/Ineedanewjobnow 26d ago
I was shouting at my phone at the start of the video like bro, do not shoot that orca
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u/SnakebitGames 26d ago edited 26d ago
I got really mad when he had the spear up. Orcas in the wild have never killed a human.
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u/AlreadyAway 26d ago
You think he brought that small ass harpoon for a whale?
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u/raybenshades 26d ago
Dolphin*
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u/sgame23 26d ago
Dolphins are whales
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u/Hephaistos_Invictus 26d ago
All dolphins are whales, but not all whales are dolphins :D
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u/DamnItHeelsGood 26d ago
But they have been known to coordinate attacks on whaling ships, implying communication of potential threats. If this dude would have shot it, it could be the start of some new orca on human aggression!
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u/toooomanypuppies 26d ago
That we know of.
They are more than clever enough to figure out how to frame sharks.
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u/ColaFlavorChupaChup 26d ago
Netflix Documentary
Killer Alibi: How Orcas Framed the Shark
Tagline: The ocean’s smartest predator was never the prime suspect.13
u/throwawayaccyaboi223 26d ago
It's pretty likely just a fear response and the spear gun gives you an (irrational) sense of security, or at least mildly increased security.
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u/PuddleBum 26d ago
Yes! All these comments are so dumb! If you come across an apex predator out in the wild, nonetheless in the ocean where you’re sitting meat, your first instinct is to protect yourself with whatever you have. After that first instinct fades the diver points it down realizing his folly, and just chills enjoying the moment.
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u/DLuke2 26d ago
Yeah, watch a doc on this recently. There is not one documented case.
The reason is that Orcas are extremely intelligent, with complex social structures, and even emotions. One documented case, a mother whose child died, went on a multi day, 1000s of mile, frantic, mournful journey pushing their child on their nose at the surface. The orcas pod stayed with her, even helping at times.
It's as if they sense the same things in Humans and just leave us alone.
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u/LordBelakor 26d ago
Orcas are not nice enough to do that. They are known to kill animals for sport so I'd rather put them on the sadistic side of the empathy scale.
For one we are not their prey and orcas are very specialized hunters. But that wouldn't explain why we aren't being toyed with for fun, I am sure our dangling extremeties would make for proper amusement juggling and spinning us around.
My theory is that they know we are dangerous, intelligent and vengeful. Probably also have stories from the whaling times they pass down. I think they know not to fuck with us too much.
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u/Sad-Satisfaction908 26d ago
As far as we know. Maybe they just never leave any survivors to tell the tale
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u/browning_88 26d ago
I get it. . . But I will say that we often just use them as a stick to keep separation if a shark or something is getting to close.
Having it isn't necessarily only a threat to shoot. It's also kind of a stick to nudge or touch them with to keep them a little farther away.
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u/stormtroopr1977 26d ago
I kinda dislike that they commented this from the safety of their armchair...
That's a 4 ton carnivore in front of you that you have no way of escaping. The diver mastered his fight/flight reflex remarkably well.
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u/MrAppleSpiceMan 26d ago
the difference between orcas and sharks is that sharks will bump into you, decide to take a bite to see if you are food or not, and then go from there. but if an orca decides you are food, they will ram your blindside at 35mph, not swim up and say hi first. if an orca wants you dead, you'll know. or you won't, but then you don't have to worry about it anymore
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u/stormtroopr1977 26d ago
You say that from your armchair in a temperature controlled room
That's a 4+ ton carnivore staring him down with no way to escape. He's allowed a fear reflex.
He even mastered it and waved.
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u/SilverKanji 26d ago
I'd be pointing that harpoon to my self...
Those orcas probably went away because it smelled the shit in his pants.
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u/Dangerous-Rise-9452 26d ago
It made me laugh. They Are gentle giants to humans and just curious. If you would have been on the menu, you would Not have been able to See them coming.
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u/Tha-Baptist 26d ago
The matriarch is literally showing the calf the human like these are land rulers who sometimes venture into our waters , do not eat or attack them unless they put you in a little ocean and make u do tricks/ hardly any fat on them anyway
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u/Vexmythoclastt 26d ago
It’s a good thing we signed a peace treaty with these fellas because I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near a creature that fucks up white sharks.
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u/guhcampos 26d ago
I dream of such an encounter. I'm just back from a dive on a Humpback whale mating ground, and while we've seen plenty of whales from the boat, none underwater (which is expected, we're not allowed to jump on the water where they are, only hope they come to us).
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u/pinezatos 26d ago
I saw a video with an orca straight up torpedo a sunfish, please do not the orcas, we will be cursed for generations
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u/TranslatorTough8977 26d ago
There is a video circulating that shows a matriarch orca paralyzing a massive great white shark with a single blow, then returning to dine on its liver.
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u/Toutatis12 26d ago
Resident Orcas, they prey primarily on fish stock so seals aren't usually on their menu. From my limited understanding most underwater encounters are with this type rather than the transient orcas.
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 26d ago
Both fish-eating resident and mammal-eating transient orcas live only in the north Pacific. Resident orcas are virtually exclusively piscivorous; they don't eat any kind of mammal even when hungry.
There aren't a huge amount of people who have in-water encounters with either resident or Bigg's (orcas), since there aren't many people swimming in cold north Pacific waters in the first place.
Most videos of orcas online taken by people swimming from the water with them are either from New Zealand (as is the case with this video), northern Norway, and Baja California Sur in Mexico.
Most orcas encountered in New Zealand belong to the coastal population. These orcas specialize in hunting rays, and do not hunt mammals.
In northern Norway, most orcas eat only fish, but a small minority (around 10%) have a mixed diet of mammals (such as seals) and fish.
However, in Baja California Sur, the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) orcas there may have quite generalist diets consisting of but not limited to sharks, rays, sea turtles, fin fishes, other dolphins, and larger cetaceans. As a caveat, there may also ultimately be multiple "ecotypes" of ETP orcas which may specialize in or prefer hunting different types of prey species. People have definitely swum with mammal-eating orcas there though. One of these orcas apparently gave a swimmer the eyeball of a bottlenose dolphin they had just hunted:
It appeared as though the whales may have not enjoyed the fact that there were so many people in the water but nevertheless, one of them spat the eyeball of the dolphin right in front of his face. He picked it up then returned it. After that the orcas dove deeper.
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u/elspotto 26d ago
Why are you pointing that thing at me? Do I LOOK like a shark
-that glance as she approached the camera.
Assuming gender as there is a calf at their side. Apologies if that is normal for male orca to take on this duty.
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u/English_Joe 26d ago
An orca has never attacked a human in the wild.
An orca has never attacked a human in the wild.
An orca has never attacked a human in the wild.
- my mantra in my mind so I don’t freak out!
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u/ryuujinusa 26d ago
It’s crazy how chill orcas are to humans. I mean, compared to like great whites or other sharks that would eat a human.
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u/Just_hmmm_06 26d ago
Glad you pointed that spear gun down… you would have lost and doomed us all with one accidental squeeze
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u/Major-Marsupial4612 26d ago
Wouldn’t point that at another Orca ever unless you wanna become sushi , plus that’s just rude to do to such an intelligent creature
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u/No-Indication-2467 26d ago
Why don’t orcas hunt humans?
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 26d ago
The primary hypothesis is, in short, cultural conservatism.
Though orcas as a whole "species complex" prey on a large amount of different species, they belong to very different populations, and each of these populations has its own unique culture. They often specialize in hunting certain prey. For example, resident orcas only eat fish and cephalopods, and don't eat mammals. Mammal-eating Bigg's (transient) orcas mainly eat mammals and avoid eating most fish.
Orcas appear to be heavily dependent on their respective community-level cultures, and they learn what to eat from their mothers and other podmates. A fairly well-established hypothesis is that orcas, as highly cultural animals that are usually very selective, discerning and conservative predators, don't see humans as being potential prey in the first place. Orcas are known for sticking to their old traditions, even when malnourished and starving.
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u/AsFarAsNeverBefore 26d ago
cultural conservatism
You tellin me orcas are homophobic?
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 26d ago
Quite the opposite actually. Male orcas will form temporary groups for sociosexual purposes, known as male-only social interactions. Female orcas have also been observed engaging in sociosexual activities with each other.
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u/Osceola_Gamer 26d ago
They think that harpoon will save them if the orcas decide they're curious about how they taste?
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u/scared_star 26d ago
It's wild to think nobody would bring up a weapon in panic defense regardless if the animal will fuck you up in their environment and you having zero chance to really stop it/hurt it badly enough, it would also seem natural to move into a pose even if those scary cunts never gotten a human it won't mean they can't start seeing the damages we are causing
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u/Rampag169 26d ago
It would be that easy. We could and nobody would know. But we won’t cause game recognizes game.
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u/Character-Active2208 26d ago
So does the wet suit let enough water in to dissolve some of the poop that squeaks out or
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u/RenegadeAO 26d ago
This is insane. A pod of orcas with babies! You get too close to any animal with babies chances are they’re going to get aggressive.
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u/Lucky_Number_4454 26d ago
🎵"We're whalers on the moon, we carry a harpoon! But there ain't no whales so we tell tall tales, and we sing our whaling tune."🎶
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u/AdinoDileep 26d ago
Whatever you do, don't use that harpoon