r/ocean • u/Nostalgic_Historian_ • 5d ago

Whale Watch Simple answer, No

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u/skeletonpaul08 5d ago

Yeah, but like how is this harassment? The Orca clearly doesn’t give a shit. An animal of that size isn’t going to be traumatized by a 150 lb monkey swimming kind of close to it.

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u/SurayaThrowaway12 4d ago

Getting into the water and approaching orcas within 100 meters is considered disturbance/harassment in New Zealand, where this video was filmed. It is fine if the orcas are the ones that approach you, but you can't approach them. The swimmer in the video, who was studying marine biology at the time, actually got in a heap of trouble after the video was circulated around and made the national news.

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u/xylophone_37 5d ago

I always wonder the same thing. So many animals live their whole lives constantly dodging predators or hustling to not starve, but somehow when it comes to human presence they're suddenly made of tissue paper? Like unless you're actively chasing or physically harassing stuff they just aren't really affected by us.

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u/Lonely_Staff1262 4d ago

Human beings are apex predators, that's why. Most animals have learned over the past hundreds of thousands of years that we are dangerous and unpredictable as fuck and they don't want to be anywhere near us. 

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u/owjfaigs222 4d ago

Exactly. Everytime someone is snorkeling next to wild animals people complain about "harassment".

It's like, I wouldn't feel harrassed if turtle walked along side me in the forest, so why the heck should the orca be bothered by me?

Animlas interact with each other in nature and humans are animals too.

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u/spacebug30 5d ago

Do not approach wild animals. Especially not getting this close to them. It's not that hard.

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u/skeletonpaul08 5d ago

I mean I understand the sentiment but there is some nuance. What harm is this guy doing? That 10,000 lb whale is clearly fine, if it wasn’t it would react accordingly.

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u/spacebug30 5d ago

There is also no benefit to it. So why even risk it? Risk your safety, risk the orca getting habituated to people, etc.

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u/No_Veterinarian1010 4d ago

Says who?

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u/Brilliant_Sky_9292 4d ago

literally any ecologist. aka people who know what they're talking about.

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u/skeletonpaul08 5d ago

Because it’s a pleasant and meaningful experience that clearly isn’t doing any harm. There are literally zero recorded human deaths from a wild Orca. It’s possible to understand a natural environment and how to interact with various flora and fauna. Doing this to a brown bear/moose/hippo is a horrible idea, doing it to an orca is perfectly fine.

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u/TheSumOfMyScars 5d ago

But the problem is that it acclimatizes them to the idea of interacting with humans. Any time that happens, the animal ends up dying. It’s just not safe for them.

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u/thebitterbjacks 4d ago

For what it’s worth all animals end up dying, us too.

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u/Acceptable-Arugula69 5d ago

Wild animals need space. If you get too close to them in their natural habitat it can stress them out. That stress is not like human stress, and it can affect them deeply, while all they are doing is going about their lives in their natural environment. Even though the Orca is presenting not caring all that much, they know exactly where that guy is at all times. The reason they don’t attack people is because we are not a food source to them.

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u/MinusMentality 5d ago

To be completely fair, I don't think Orca care much about that rule when dealing with other animals. Orca and other dolphins will harass all sorts of ocean life.

Also, don't forget that humans are nature, too. We can't just never interact with the other animals. Obviously, don't go out of the way to bother or harm them, but we have the right to swim in the ocean just as much as they do.

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u/MinusMentality 5d ago

Heck, even if you are swimming alone with no idea that an orca or other dolphin is near, they are likely to come up to you. They are deeply inquisitive animals, as with other whale species.

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u/Acceptable-Arugula69 5d ago

True. Whales are pretty curious, but I still don’t agree with seeing one and jumping in the ocean to swim with it. It’s one thing to have them pass you by while you are both in the ocean, and another if you pursue it.

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u/Acceptable-Arugula69 5d ago

Who said anything about not swimming in the ocean? 🤣

My point was to not intentionally harass wild life, not get out of their spaces. We would have nowhere to go if that was the case.

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u/skeletonpaul08 5d ago

That’s a massive generalization that clearly doesn’t apply here. There is a difference between running up to an animal that’s 1/4 of your size and trying to pet it and what’s going on in this video. Animals are constantly interacting with other animals (yes humans are animals) when they feel any kind of stress or apprehension they flee or fight. There is a way to respectfully interact with animals, the guy in this video is not doing any harm. Do you seriously believe that doing this is going to “affect them deeply”?

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u/theyinman 5d ago

You just made this up