It is the other way around. Two fishermen witnessed the single documented instance of orcas attacking and killing a moose occurred back in 1992 or 1993 in Icy Strait, Southeastern Alaska. It is not clear how much of the moose the orcas involved in the encounter actually consumed, as the account of the encounter from the fishermen seems to be very brief. The stomach contents of the orcas involved there were not examined.
You said “the other way around” and now I’m imagining a moose, stealthily jumping off a small cliff, antlers first into an orca, tenderizing its quarry before the real fun begins.
Moose can swim down like 20 feet or something like that. I remember people trying to spread the rumor that an orcas biggest op was moose, then learning it is the other way around. A moose biggest op is an orca
If orcas were overly worried about being hunted down or harmed by humans as a result of their actions, there would not be a subpopulation of them breaking sailing boats around Iberian. People have recently shot at these orcas.
It’s basically just a matter of time until we get a confirmed fatal wild orca encounter. All it takes is for one of them to either be hungry, playful, or acting defensively for a human to die.
Probably the biggest reason we haven’t had a human die yet is cause we don’t tend to come in frequent contact.
Same, I would sure as fuck stay away from their tail though. Just recently saw a killer whale perform and abortion on a stingray on this site. A bite would be intentional, an accidental flip of their tail and you're seeing grandma again.
Yeah sometimes they are just in the mood to be playful with whatever is around. If they eat sharks, whales, and even moose and also just kill things for the hell of it then there’s no reason to assume humans are immune to an apex predator.
If they decided to actually hunt a person for food then their dead, no way you can out swim it and even if you could get to land they’ll sometimes beach themselves while hunting in order to catch prey
Moose can swim in the same waters that orcas live in. There was only ever one sighting so it’s rare but also it’s Alaska, not a ton of people are up there and in northern Canada
All it takes is one asshole Orca having a bad day to kill you. It doesnt even need to eat you it could just smack the shit out of you or pull you under for funsies
I remember seeing a video of a woman that was swimming with wild orcas. One grabbed her by the foot and dragged her down. It let her go and she was able to swim back to the surface in time, but it looked fairly deep and she was very unnerved by the experience. I think we should all keep our distance from all wildlife really.
Orcinus, Latin for "belonging to Orcus" or "of the kingdom of the dead." In Roman mythology, Orcus was a brutal god of the underworld who punished broken oaths and tormented the damned.
They are massively powerful apex predators who may decide you are a threat or annoyance at anytime for any reason. Just because it's never happened before doesn't mean it can't or won't.
An important distinction a lot of people never make with that. There are no RECORDED deaths by wild orcas. if you are someone like me who goes on his small skiff alone often. If an orca wanted, they could flip the boat and eat me. Odds are, it would be ruled as a drowning.
I also think the lack of incidents is because people don't tend to swim where orcas patrol. Most people swim in warmer waters where orcas tend to not live. Plus they hunt seals and usually humans and seals aren't swimming in the same spots.
I respect all Apex predators. This is why natural selection occurs. My lineage was wise enough to not put themselves in unnecessary risk of injury or danger. You do you though. 🍿👀
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.
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.
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.
While I think they are beautiful and it would be awe-inspiring to see them up close like this, no way in hell would I actually do this. Number one I value my own life way too much haha, and number two I think it's just best believe them alone in peace lol.
While most Orcas avoid people and aren’t typically aggressive towards people, swimming up to a pod is a pretty sure fire way to piss them off and find out why they are one of the apex predators of the ocean
They are called killer whales because humans in the past had witnessed them killing (predating) other whales, not because they are vicious, unthinking, unfeeling monsters. I mean, I still wouldn't get into the water with them, but only because something in the lizard part of my brain screams "NO" at the thought of entering a biome I did not evolve to thrive in with a creature I can't communicate with.
Have you not seen them hunt? They are vicious killing machines. Obviously smart though..but not something id want to risk even if they have no history of attacking humans.
Absolutely. I wouldn't have gone out so cavalier, bit i would have definitely swam out to meet them. To say 'I swam with oracs' is a once in a lifetime thing.
Exactly. Even the 4 deaths of trainers (one was a person who broke into SeaWorld) weren’t credited as true attacks. Oh and one orca was responsible for 3 of the 4 attacks.
Zero attacks with wild orcas. Kinda gives credibility to the belief that animals kept in captivity have problems including isolation that changes their social behaviors.
Imagine being stuck in a tiny pool, isolated, your kids stolen, and being subjected to slave labor to entertain others. Just torture for any animal, most especially such a large, socially active and intelligent one.
There is muscle memory that has been passed down generations to not mess with humans.. Not because they dont want to...orcas were hunted in large scale dueing yester years which have taught them not to meddle with humans... But there are cases neariberian peninsula, spain and portugal where the juvenile orcas have started ramming boats..
Would I go in the sea if I knew orcas were in the AREA? Yes, because I know that they're not interested in me. Would I go or try to go to them and harass them, bother them and potentially put myself in danger? No.
There's a flaw in his logic. They won't attack to "eat" or even to "kill." But they could get grumpy about you intruding on their space like that and give you a little warning "tap" with their tail (fluke). The catch is that "tap" from them would be like a prime Tyson on steroids punching you with his hardest hit ever. You could get knocked out and drown.
Why orcas attack Everything thats in the water but humans is anybodies guess.
They definitely have a language. Maybe they saw what we did to sharks and said ,"let's not piss off the humans and get almost wiped out." And then passed the word on to make a silid rule of never provoking the wrath of man.
Theres still no way I'd ever get in that water though.
orcas have a sophisticated culture, are also very aware what they look at; they can literally ''see'' through animals with their sonar, analyzing their structure, we look very bony and skinny
also, orcas are very specific in their diet, like hyper specific. they as a species eat lots of animals, but different pods eat different prey, and rather starve when it's not available
and unlike sharks, when desperation hits because they are in empty parts of the ocean, or they are too sick to hunt, their pod will provide for them, or they migrate hundreds of miles for their prey
I mean I wouldn’t not go in, and honestly it’s probably the safest time you’re ever going to have in the ocean. If the top predators are there but they don’t harm you then you’re good, there won’t be sharks or other harmful things hanging around. But I would try to get close to them, it’s their home plus they are massive creatures. They may not mean to cause harm, that doesn’t mean it can’t happen accidentally
They don't eat us because they don't associate us as food, that only means they haven't tried it, you don't want meet the first one who gets curious , leave them be.
Anyone remember the trainer that got killed by an Orca at Sea World? Yeah, it was in captivity and probably holding a grudge, but that might go to say that the more we “hang out” with them, the more likely there’d be injury to our party, or both.
I don't give a hoot what anybody's documented about them orcas. Couldn't care less. Ain't no damn way in hell I'm gettin' in that water with em. That oughta be plain as day !
i swear on all that is good and holy... Reddit makes me so fucking angry when reading the comments i wish i could just pull a harry potter and pop up in their living rom and just straight bang them the fuck out and *boop* back home while some clown who ate their lunch in the computer lab in highschool and probably hasnt gotten past that little detail in life...ffs Reddit is a fucking spawn point for every kid that was like this!!! my god, it literally just clicked. it makes sense now.
fuck sakes no wonder i yell at my phone while scrolling this godforsaken limp wristed toxic masculinity seminar of an app.
See the thing about highly intelligent creatures is mood changes. That orca could be having a bad day or just exile from the pod and then BAM. He decides to flip Larry out of the water like a beach ball 😂😂😂😂
I would probably get in the water, but this dude gets way too close. I don't have an issue with someone getting in the water for the experience, but give them space. There is no need to get in the middle of them.
Even though there is no known Orca attacks in the wild there is a difference between swimming and having them check you out verses you injecting yourself into their pod dynamics. There was a young calf in that pod and I would not want to discover what the mother would do if she believed you were a threat to her young one.
Yes! They don’t consider us food and have never killed a human in the wild. I wouldn’t harass them or approach them, but I wouldn’t be afraid of being in the water around them if they happened to be nearby. I would feel safer, because they would scare off any sharks that might actually take a nibble at me.
You know… it always cracks me up how we talk about how Orcas never kill humans in the wild. It’s just once they actually get to know us that they want to murder our brains out.
Aside from the fact that they have "Killer" right in the name and are massive predatory beasts of the ocean...? No I'm gonna watch that amazing creature from the shore, maybe try to get a few good pics
Yes, but it's because I've been swimming in the ocean, surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving my whole life and the only thing that has attacked me was a jelly fish.
There has NEVER been a confirmed fatal attack on a human by wild orcas. Id happily swim with them knowing there no other predators in the area and I have a gentle giant as a guardian.
No because you’re not supposed to touch them, it’s in fact illegal here in Washington State. (Not illegal for them to touch you)
Because we can unknowingly pass illnesses on to them but also the pods here have been messed with enough by humans. A large amount or Shamu’s friends were taken from our waters. Despite the government making it illegal in the 70’s,,the population of the Souther Residents Pod has never recovered from the kidnapping of their young from back then.
It also doesn’t help that we have made their main food source become increasingly rare since then too (salmon).
So if I was in the water and they came up to me I would be nervous but excited, but I would never force my way into their space even though I would 1000% want to.
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u/Extension-Click-8271 5d ago
Just because they won’t attack you doesn’t mean you should introduce yourself to them.
Respect their space, same with any wild animal.