Why Orcas Almost Never Attack Humans

There have been very few cases of orca attacks in the wild, and most marine biologists have expressed belief that in most cases, such attacks are a case of mistaken identity.

Times Of Captivity

Scientists said that these marine mammals almost never attack humans in the wild - although they have attacked and killed humans multiple times during times of captivity.

On the other hand, all of the reported violent interactions between orcas and humans come with significant caveats.

Records have shown that orca attacks in captivity include pushing up against the human, dragging them down to the bottom of the pool, refusing to allow them to come up for air, and striking the human with their bodies.

Further, severe bite-related wounds have also occurred in these attacks, especially when the orca attempts to drag the human using its teeth.

Previous studies have said that orcas have been encountering humans in the ocean for centuries, and while there are a handful of accounts, there is only one report of the species killing a human.

The fatal encounter reportedly happened in the 1950s, when some orcas became trapped in sea ice in the eastern Canadian Arctic.

It was said that in the early 1950s, a group of killer whales (Orcinus orca) became entrapped in developing landfast sea ice in northeast Foxe Basin in the eastern Canadian Arctic (Nunavut).

Killer whales come into contact with sea ice in many regions; however, reports of ice entrapments or ice-induced stranding events have become rare. These events represent an occasional source of natural mortality that could have significant effects on small killer whale populations.

In the early or middle 1950s, probably 1955, a group of killer whales became entrapped in developing autumn sea ice in northeast Foxe Basin in the eastern Canadian Arctic (Nunavut), wherein the only known fatal killer whale ice entrapment was reported in Arctic Canada.

It was originally reported by Blackadar (1964) and included by Reeves & Mitchell (1988) as two killer whales, a female and calf, discovered and harvested at Christmas time in 1956 in a patch of open water in Steensby Inlet.

Practice Or Play

Experts said that orcas do not eat what they are not taught to eat so they would not eat a human. They noted that wild orcas sometimes kill other animals for practice or even play, but humans have seemingly never been on the receiving end of this.

According to scientists, there was one confirmed case of a killer whale biting a surfer off California in 1972, but the orca quickly let go.

Many groups, meanwhile, believed that these captive orcas suffer stress due to the nature of their confinement leading them to be more aggressive to other dolphins and humans alike.

Rob Lott of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society said that there is no definite reason why marine mammals like orcas engage in these attacks, ''but boredom, frustration and ill health, both physical and mental, have all been implicated,"

"These incidents have resulted in serious injuries to trainers and, in one case at least, proved to be fatal,'' Lott said.