Orcas (or killer whales) are large, powerful aquatic apex predators. There have been incidents where orcas were perceived to attack humans in the wild, but such attacks are less common than those by captive orcas. [1] In captivity, there have been several non-fatal and four fatal attacks on humans since the 1970s. [2] Experts are divided as to whether the injuries and deaths were accidental or deliberate attempts to cause harm. [3] [4]
There are a few recorded cases of wild orcas threatening humans.
In the early 1910s, Scott's Terra Nova Expedition recorded that orcas had attempted to tip ice floes on which an expedition photographer and a sled dog team were standing. [5]
There are anecdotal reports that, c. 1955, an Inuit man fell prey to an orca entrapped by ice in Grand Suttie Bay (Foxe Basin, Canada). A pod of orcas (likely 10-12 animals) was trapped in a polynya, and a young man visited the site in spite of advice from elders to wait until the ice was strong enough. Two Inuit elders stated to a research team that one of the animals chased the young man, broke the ice under him, then killed and ate him. However, the researchers weren't able to directly confirm the predation on the man, as one of the elders clearly stated that he hadn't witnessed the event himself while the other didn't clarify whether he had. As the ice thickened, two to three whales were taken by Inuit hunters, and three more were harpooned but tore the lines (made of seal skin). The rest of the pod likely died of starvation. [6]
In 1958, an orca attacked the fishing boat Tiger Shark after being struck with a harpoon off the coast of Long Island. The whale was able to get free and chased the vessel for some time. At one point he lifted the boat "clear out of the water". [7]
In September 1962 in Washington waters off the west side of San Juan Island, Marineland of the Pacific collector Frank Brocato lassoed a female salmon-eating southern resident orca. [8] When she and an accompanying male thumped his boat with their flukes, Brocato started shooting from his rifle, killing the female—the first of many southern residents to be killed in capture operations. Her body was towed to Bellingham to be rendered for dog food. [9]
On June 15, 1972, the hull of the 13-metre-long (43 ft) wooden schooner Lucette was damaged by a pod of orcas and sank approximately 320 kilometres (200 mi) west of the Galapagos Islands. Dougal Robertson and his family of five escaped to an inflatable life raft and a dinghy. [10] [11] [12] [13]
On September 9, 1972, [14] Californian surfer Hans Kretschmer reported being bitten by an orca at Point Sur; most maintain that this remains the only fairly well-documented instance of a wild orca biting a human. [15] [16] His wounds required 100 stitches. [16] [17]
On March 9, 1976, the Italian racing yacht Guia III was rammed and sunk by an orca off the coast of Brazil. The vessel was hit once by an individual out of a pod of four to five orcas. The crew of six successfully escaped to a liferaft. The whales showed no reaction to the escaping humans a few meters away from them. [7]
In 1989 American researcher Bernd Würsig published an article about having been attacked by an orca on a beach of the Valdes Peninsula. A single individual, possibly as big as 9 metres (30 ft), beached towards him while he was watching sea lions about 200 metres (650 ft) away from him in hopes of taking a photograph of an orca hunt. Dr Würsig ran up the beach after the animal missed him by about 1 metre. He speculated that the whale might have mistaken him for a seal. [18]
In August 2005, while swimming in four feet of water in Helm Bay, near Ketchikan, Alaska, a 12-year-old boy named Ellis Miller was bumped in the shoulder by a 7.6-metre (25 ft) transient orca. [15] [19] The boy was not bitten or injured in any way. The bay is frequented by harbor seals, and it is possible that the whale misidentified him as prey. [19]
During the filming of the third episode of the BBC documentary Frozen Planet (2011), a group of orcas were filmed trying to swamp the film crew's 5.5-metre (18 ft) zodiac boat with waves as they were filming. The crew had earlier taped the group hunting seals in the same fashion. It was not mentioned if any of the crew were hurt in the encounter. [20] [21] The crew described the orcas as being very tolerant of the film makers' presence. Over the course of 14 days they filmed over 20 different attacks on seals, many of which the film series producer Vanessa Berlowitz described as training exercises for the young calves in the group. [22] [23]
On February 10, 2014, a free diver in Horahora Estuary near Whangārei, New Zealand, was pulled down for over 40 seconds by an orca that grabbed a bag containing crayfish and urchins which was attached to his arm by a rope. The rope eventually came free. He then undid his weight belt and returned to the surface. He had lost all feeling in his arm and could no longer swim, but his cousin was nearby and helped him float to some rocks where the feeling in his arm returned. Local whale rescuer Jo Halliday thought the incident was more like a potential entanglement than an attack. She said, "I think it's been a pure accident and not an attack of any kind. I'd say the animal has panicked from the feel of the line and the man got dragged along with it.” [24] When the rope became undone, the orca did not attack but rather moved away. [25] [26] [24]
From 2020 to 2023, there were at least five hundred reports of orcas attacking boats off the Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal, an unusual and unprecedented behaviour. [27] The nudging, biting and ramming attacks concentrated on the rudders of medium-size sailing vessels sailing at moderate speed, with some impacts on the hulls. A small group of orcas were believed to be responsible, with three juveniles which have been named black Gladis, white Gladis, and grey Gladis identified as present for most attacks. No people were injured. The Portuguese coastguard banned small sailing vessels from a region where several incidents had been reported. It is thought by some that the behavior was playful, rather than aggressive or vengeful. [28] However, Gibraltar-based marine biologist Eric Shaw argued that the orcas were displaying protective behaviors and were intentionally targeting the rudder with the understanding that it would immobilize the vessel, just as attacking the tail of a prey animal would immobilize it, a documented predation behavior. [29] [30] [31]
There have been many attacks on humans by captive orcas, with four fatalities; three by the same orca, Tilikum. [32]
While Tilikum has perhaps the most infamous reputation, there have been several other captive orcas that have repeatedly harmed people, intentionally or not. [88]
SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by United Parks & Resorts. The parks feature orcas, sea lion, and dolphin shows and zoological displays featuring various other marine animals.
Corky II, often referred to as just Corky, is a female captive orca from the A5 Pod of northern resident orcas. At approximately the age of four, Corky was captured from Pender Harbour off the coast of British Columbia on December 11, 1969. She has lived at SeaWorld San Diego in San Diego, California since 1987. As of 2023, she is the oldest and longest kept captive orca. SeaWorld San Diego celebrates her birthday on 2 January every year.
Shamu was a female orca captured in October 1965 from a southern resident pod. She was sold to SeaWorld San Diego and became a star attraction. Shamu was the fourth orca ever captured, and the second female. She died in August 1971, after about six years of captivity. After her death, the name Shamu continued to be used in SeaWorld "Shamu" shows for different orcas in different SeaWorld parks.
Loro Parque or 'Loro Park' is a 135,000 m2 zoo on the outskirts of Puerto de la Cruz on Tenerife, Spain where it houses an extensive and diverse reserve of animal and plant species. The park was conceived as a paradise for parrots and has developed over the years into one of the biggest attractions of the Canary Islands, with over 40 million visitors.
Katina is a female orca who lives at SeaWorld Orlando in Florida. She was captured off Iceland at approximately three years of age on October 26, 1978. She is the most successful breeding female orca in captivity.
Sealand of the Pacific was a public aquarium in South Oak Bay at The Oak Bay Marina, near the city of Victoria, in British Columbia, Canada. It housed a number of orcas: Haida, Nootka, and Tilikum. In 1991, all three were involved in an incident in which a trainer, Keltie Byrne, was killed. The aquarium subsequently closed and sold its orcas to SeaWorld.
Kasatka was a wild caught female orca who lived at SeaWorld San Diego.
Ramu III was an Orca who resided at the now-defunct Windsor Safari Park in Berkshire, England between 1970 and 1976, and later, at SeaWorld San Diego in California between 1976 and 1986. An adult male, Ramu was caught on August 8, 1970, after his pod of eighty orcas was 'corralled' during the Penn Cove capture in Penn Cove, near Coupeville, Washington, United States. At capture, Ramu was 13.32 ft long and a member of the Southern Resident Killer Whales' L-pod. It is assumed his family members still survive in the Salish Sea and in nearby Pacific coastal waters.
SeaWorld Orlando is an animal theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Although separately gated, it is often promoted with neighboring parks Discovery Cove and Aquatica as well as Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, all of which are owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts. In 2022, SeaWorld Orlando hosted an estimated 4.45 million guests, ranking it the 10th most visited amusement park in the United States.
This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at various SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment-owned amusement parks, water parks or theme parks. This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every such event, but only those that have a significant impact on the parks or park operations, or are otherwise significantly newsworthy.
Mundo Marino is the largest aquarium in Argentina. It is located in San Clemente del Tuyú, Argentina.
Dozens of orcas are held in captivity for breeding or performance purposes. The practice of capturing and displaying orcas in exhibitions began in the 1960s, and they soon became popular attractions at public aquariums and aquatic theme parks due to their intelligence, trainability, striking appearance, playfulness, and sheer size. As of 1 January 2024, around 59 orcas are in captivity worldwide, 35 of which were captive-born. At that time, there were 18 orcas in the SeaWorld parks.
Dawn Therese Brancheau was an American animal trainer at SeaWorld. She worked with orcas at SeaWorld Orlando for fifteen years, including a leading role in revamping the Shamu show, and was SeaWorld's poster girl. She was killed by an orca, Tilikum, who was also involved in the deaths of Keltie Byrne and Daniel P. Dukes.
Tilikum, nicknamed Tilly, was a captive male orca who spent most of his life at SeaWorld Orlando in Florida. He was captured in Iceland in 1983; about a year later, he was transferred to Sealand of the Pacific near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He was subsequently transferred in 1992 to SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, where he sired 21 calves throughout his life.
Shamu was the stage name used for several performing orcas at SeaWorld as part of their theatrical Shamu show beginning in 1960s. The original Shamu died in 1971, but the name was trademarked by SeaWorld, and has been given to different orcas over the years.
Ulises is a male orca who lives at SeaWorld San Diego in California. He was captured off the coast of Iceland in 1980 and is currently the oldest male orca in captivity as of 2022. SeaWorld San Diego celebrates his birthday on 1st January every year.
Blackfish is a 2013 American documentary film directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. It concerns Tilikum, an orca held by SeaWorld and the controversy over captive orcas. The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2013, and was picked up by Magnolia Pictures and CNN Films for wider release. It was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary.
Tilikum v. Sea World was a legal case heard in the US Federal Court in 2012 concerning the constitutional standing of an orca. It was brought by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on behalf of Tilikum, an orca kept in the SeaWorld Orlando park, against the SeaWorld corporation.
Alexis Martínez was a Spanish animal trainer, notable as the victim of a fatal attack by an orca. He was killed by a SeaWorld-owned orca, Keto, held at Loro Parque's Orca Ocean in the Canary Islands.
Many experts think these attacks are not malicious, but rather a case of play getting out of hand. Howard Garrett of the Orca Network disagrees. He argues the attacks are deliberate, though not in cold blood.
I was -- I had about 200 stitches from the waist down. I had lacerations and punctures.
Postmortem abrasions, laceration and avulsion of the scrotum with testes. Avulsion of the skin of the pubic area including the scrotal sac and testis, with the left testis separate.
Brancheau died Feb. 24, 2010, when an orca named Tilikum grabbed her by her Ponytail and pulled her underwater.