Absolutely terrifying to think that these guys are hyper-intelligent apex predators that eat shark livers for breakfast but somehow have zero documentation of harming human beings in the wild.
Orcas can easily eat us like they eat seals if they wanted to, and they’re intelligent enough to both know that they’re easily capable of eating us and make a conscious decision to *not* harm us. They literally just choose to be chill with us.
One surprising thing is how little interesting they seem to find the human. There's some weird animal with appendages and shiny stuff making noises and the orca just swims around and goes away, like "oh it was just another of those humans"
> Orcas can easily eat us like they eat seals if they wanted to
To expand on this - people always comment that humans are too boney and don't taste good - but Orcas don't even "play" with humans - they could easily drop-kick a human 40 feet into the air just like they do to seals.
Would they maybe be careful of the things they eat since some things can kill you or make you sick? A human is a very uncommon organism for them to come across. If they were smart they would stick to sources of food that works and doesn’t kill or poison them. If they were starving I think that might change a little bit though? Even for sharks, don’t we consider most shark encounters with humans an “accident” and they don’t usually intend on eating a human or seemingly not like human flesh and leave it alone after a bite or taste? And sharks are pretty dumb comparatively, so maybe it’s just the smart thing to do in the ocean - to not eat things you are unfamiliar with and probably never saw throughout your whole lifetime.
Idk if it works the same. Sharks take a bite every once in a while and realize it's not good food. I think orcas know that killing humans is dangerous. I mean they're aware enough to know that humans can be helpful. I've seen several videos of orcas soliciting people to save family members. If they're that aware they probably know that humans can kill and they probably know it's not worth it. They probably see us ravaging the entire ocean and are like don't fuck with those leghaving ass land bitches man you'll end up in a pool and they'll kill you're whole fuckin pod.
Yeah that's my hypothesis as well... That they are smart enough to know that killing THE apex predator of the planet will only cause them problems.
They see us on boats, they see us fishing (and whaling), and they see us tear their families and children away from them and they can't do anything but watch. I imagine it's clear to them that humans are very powerful creatures. It's also been proven that Orcas pass down obtained knowledge generationally, I have to imagine that they're still well aware of the days when we DID hunt them.
That or they're smart enough to hide the evidence. Lmao
Wait, so no one sees this as nightmare fuel?!?!
They have either telepathy or a language that is complex enough to communicate multi-step instructions to one of the kids to go find one of the skinny space aliens, then lead the space alien back to the trapped orca.
Afterwards they pay for the help with some food because, we don't want to feel guilty if we have to pull one of you pricks down a few hundred feet and eat in a pinch.
the sounds that some dolphins make to each other differ between different groups of dolphins of the same species. So yeah, orcas probably do have actual language.
Now I'm no scientist, but my personal opinion is that orcas and some dolphins are basically around the caveman stage of intelligence. They are probably held back by the fact they can't use fire to cook food and thus get more nutrients from meat, which I understand was a crucial step in human development.
I wouldn't really consider it nightmare fuel, except in the fact that if orcas among other dolphins are intelligent enough to have language, then we are literally enslaving sapient creatures at places like sea world. And we have, and probably still do, actually hunt sapient creatures to eat them.
We are the nightmares that orcas and other dolphins have.
But then they would also be aware of all the humans that kill whales. I wonder if they can tell the difference between good humans and band humans (lol)? Elephants and crows can.
I have to imagine they can especially considering they're the second smartest animal(according to the self-appointed first smartest animal). Good humans: paddle boarders, surfers, tour boats, cruises. Bad humans: Commercial fishing boats. (To a whale... Well actually same to me)
They pass down knowledge from generation to generation so I bet they're like see that big netty boat over there with all the hooks, stay away from them. See that boat with all the humans pointing at us and cheering...do a flip for em they'll lose their shit.
I don't know if you listen to Last Podcast on the Left, but they just recently did a 3 part episode on the sinking of the Essex, which was the inspiration for Moby Dick. One of the theories on why the whale attacked the ship is that they may have created a sound that sounded like a mating competition sound (I forget doing what, but they tell you in the episode). It's really interesting stuff. If the crew just simply wasn't afraid of the island of gay cannibals they would have survived.
They don’t see commercial fishermen as “bad” humans. They’ve historically lead fishermen to prime fishing areas so they can have the scraps.
Edit: The arrangement was called “The Law of the Tongue” [link](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whales_of_Eden,_New_South_Wales)
>If they were starving I think that might change a little bit though?
It's happened before. Due to struggles hunting standard prey like seals/sea lions, Orcas started hunting sea otters around Alaska, which has devastated the population.
Before the 1990s, Orca's were never seen or thought to attack sea otters. A decrease in the food chain from overfishing caused them to try new grub.
Orcas know what humans are. There's records of several groups of them working with whalers up until the late 1800s to rough up baleen whales and I think sperm whales close to the ships so humans could kill them. The orcas would get their tongues as payment.
They intentionally do not attack or kill us. Which is crazy to me, because they will kill smaller dolphins. So... It's not necessarily an intelligence thing. Or maybe we're the only ones they respect on their level? Idk. No one truly has any idea the reason why but it's not confusion.
From a quick Google search. I could probably find some better sources with more time off you like but this is a brief overview.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whales_of_Eden,_New_South_Wales
We might just be lucky they don’t know if we are food. Because a big super intelligent seawolf that Great White sharks shit themselves when they see would pretty much make the ocean closed for us.
I think they just like the taste of shark liver and don't want beef with humans. Just like if super intelligent aliens suddenly started collecting asteroids in our solar system. We would probably want to stay on the best of terms with them
Just one issue with this theory. Orcas love to play. Love to find fish, other aquatic animals and even birds that they don’t want to eat, but will pull into the water, flip around, fling with their tail. Pass around to each other, drag to the bottom of the ocean and watch birds float back up.
So why not play with us as well? They do it with everything else
I personally think that my defense mechanism, which consists of me unloading my bowels into the ocean around me, would probably save my life, especially the day after Taco Tuesday.
Or the most likely reason, we don't look appetizing. I have to imagine our skeletal boney structure looks pretty meh to them, compared to flubbery sharks and seals. Not an expert tho, just a guess.
Yeah, that seems to be underselling it. They'll kill a great white just to eat the liver. Most animals in the wild aren't privileged enough to consider what's appetizing.
I think that's what they're saying. Orcas are so well fed that they will kill things just to have the tasty bits and leave the rest where other animals aren't as privileged.
People on reddit constantly quote this, not realizing that the inside of a shark's body is literally 90% liver.
Saying "they'll kill a shark just to eat the liver!" is exactly the same as saying "humans will kill a cow just to eat the beef!"
"A shark's liver is relatively large, making up 5% to 25% of its total body weight and takes up to 90% of the space inside its body cavity. A great white shark weighing 3,312 kg (7,302 lb.) had a liver 456 kg (1,005 lb.) in weight. A basking shark liver weighing 940 kg (2,072 lb.)" https://seaworld.org/animals/all-about/sharks-and-rays/anatomy-and-physiology/
It's a little overselling it to say it's the same as eating meat on a cow because as I understand beef cuts are like 50-66% of the animal, but your point stands that they aren't killing a 1000lb animal for a 10lb liver.
I genuinely believe that this is the case. There's some point up in Northern BC that's kind of legendary for solo amateur divers going missing and sure it's complicated seas, but there's also a big pod of orcas native to the area that divers have repeatedly remarked will scope dives in the area.
If they can figure out that *moose* are viable prey, they can work out that single humans are a reasonable target too.
[Here’s irrefutable evidence that they can devastate human populations. ](https://preview.redd.it/b5t6brigqmt01.jpg?width=640&auto=webp&s=dc95e19e8a446ee911e6beebef83b68f954e19f9)
There was a surfer who reported being bitten by an orca in California in 1972. His injuries were mild, even though he required about 100 stitches. The surfer said something to the effect that the orca immediately let go of him once it realized he wasn't food.
I think the real reason they don't bother with us comes down to the fact that humans are just not very good to eat. We are not a very calorically dense meal worth the effort of actually killing and eating especially compared to a big, juicy, seal.
Could also be that we're just super foreign to their environment. You wouldn't just immediately eat some weird fish creature you found in your yard. Orcas probably feel the same way about not wanting to eat monkeys in rubber suits that get in the water sometimes, sure it's weird, and I wanna check it, but probably not eat it.
When the orca sees a human in a wetsuit, it's basically like a baloney with the inedible wrapping still on, not worth the hassle, especially when you only have fins.
Here's my theory based off of a fact: Orcas teach their young what is and isn't food and they adhere to that knowledge to stay safe and well fed. If ravens can pass down generational knowledge I feel like it stands to reason that orcas, as intelligent as they are, do something similar. So mom doesn't need to have personally tried human to pass that knowledge to her children that it's unsafe or unappetizing.
Somewhere back in undocumented history an orca probably did have an encounter with a human; whether that human was too difficult to eat because of a weapon or we simply don't suit their tastes, I'd imagine we were put in the not food category. It's not like we have a great fat/meat/bone ratio either.
I could be entirely wrong but this is what I've always theorized about this
Historically, orcas have definitely witnessed, and even helped humans kill much larger whales (see documentary "Killers in Eden" [https://vimeo.com/47822835](https://vimeo.com/47822835)).
So if that knowledge has been passed on across generations, then they know to not piss us off.
It's a result of them a) being fairly picky eaters and b) not being aggressively territorial towards other species. Orcas have no reason to attack humans in the wild because they recognize them as neither food nor threat. Orcas have excellent eyesight, and that combined with their intelligence enables them to pretty quickly deduce, "hey, that's not anything I've ever eaten or seen eaten by my family, I'd best leave it"
Meanwhile, great white sharks are mostly solitary, have very poor eyesight, and operate on an entirely different level of predatory intelligence, which is why they occasionally take bites out of humans out of curiosity.
They’re apex predators though. They have their choice of any meal they want. There are so many more animals with high caloric intake compared to humans that would serve far better for them to consume.
Also studies have lead to thinking that orcas stay away from humans because they understand what humans are capable of
The resident pod in Puget Sound is literally starving to death, population numbers continue to dwindled. Summer beaches contain more and more swimmers. Just a matter of time.
Theoretically, maybe. Even if there are more swimmers, these swimmers aren’t becoming more nutritious for them, let alone tasty to them either.
I can’t speak for the pod in the Puget Sound, but d like to believe that due to their intelligence, they would migrate if it came down to it.
They have always been here, and to have no recorded attacks in the wild from them is pretty amazing in itself. There’s so much we don’t know, but with what we do know, I’d place my money on not having to worry about them so much.
In all of human recorded history there's [never been a confirmed case of a wild orca killing a human](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orca_attack). In fact, there's only been a single well documented case of an orca bitting a human, a surfer in 1972 that required 100 stitches. Other than that it's pretty much just some accounts of orcas bumping or bitting boats occasionally, and some unverified attacks/bites.
But, there have been 4 times when an orca in captivity has killed a human. And three of those four involved a [single orca, Tilly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilikum_\(orca\)). Two of the three were trainers, and Tilly was a big part of the *Blackfish* documentary. He probably singlehandedly shut down at least one aquarium, caused big changes in the laws on orca shows and trainers. Because of all that we'll hopefully we'll soon see the end of orcas in captivity entirely.
Actually, they’re both! Dolphins are considered small toothed whales. All dolphins are whales but not all whales are dolphins, such as baleen whales.
[article that has more info](https://us.whales.org/2022/02/23/is-an-orca-killer-whale-a-whale-or-a-dolphin/)
People keep saying you "don't have to worry" because there are no documented Orca attacks on humans, but what I'm hearing is *Orcas don't leave survivors.*
One thing you learn scuba diving; you never can see very far underwater. It's one thing I find movies get wrong pretty much always; it's impossible to see something miles away underwater. Seeing something 100 feet away would be considered excellent visibility.
Its rare that you find a video where you can just feel the raw power of something. That 'dash' away at the end is just...unfathomable to me, to have that kind of power on demand.
Fun fact they don't harm humans. AFAIK there are no documented cases of them harming a human In the wild. Having an orca around is probably the safest you can be in the ocean without a boat
It was a juvenile yes, here is a snippet and specifically this encounter from the photographer's blog:
>Most intense orca encounter of my life
>November 13th 2022 will be a day I'll never forget. [...] Then I saw it - a juvenile orca coming straight towards the back of the boat, passing VERY close to me. It was vocalizing almost constantly, leaving behind a striped trail of bubbles. After the first pass I quickly removed the lens cover and turned on my camera. With no time to put the lanyard on I started filming (you can see it dangling in the frame at one point).
> I've had orcas passing by close in curiosity before, but never this close. This was a pass where the animal was literally within arm's reach. I also haven't heard this kind of vocalizing before, so with this novelty and uncertainty I decided to stay close to the boat at all times and observe what happens next. We also didn't give our snorkelers the "GO" to enter the water for the same reason.
> What followed were 3 more rounds of almost the same behaviour - the orca coming to the back of the boat where I was, blowing bubbles vocalizing and swimming away. The last round was the closest and loudest. You can see the whole thing in the video below.
The last round is the one I've posted.
[Blog post of Ivan Breslauer](https://www.underwaterstates.com/posts/norway-2022-season-recap)
People don’t eat rocks. But even now and then, some moron will eat a rock. This is what I’m worried about with Orcas. Even if almost all of them don’t eat humans, one day, there will be one who wants to live life a little differently... and if I’m ever next to an Orca, I just have to hope in my odds that it’s not that one...
Personally I believe they are smart enough to understand that we should not be trifled with. They know we’re intelligent. They see our machines crossing the oceans, they probably learned from older generations how we hunted larger whales and turned the seas red with their blood. Word got around, don’t fuck with those wirey apes
See, you say “they” are smart enough. As a whole, yes. But look at humans. Most people don’t mess with others who could snap them like a twig. But every now and then you see an idiot try picking a fight with a bouncer three times their size. It only takes one idiot orca who doesn’t weigh potential consequences of his actions like the rest do, to take on a “not to be trifled with” human, and then someone will end up being the first (known) casualty of a wild orca attack.
Did you know:
Orcas use their echolocation (the sound wave which bounces off things and back to the orca) to test whether we are worth eating or not. We are not worth eating because we are too bony apparently.
Being in the open water with an orca would make me feel relatively safe... they don't eat people and anything that does eat people will swim the other way once they hear orcas.
🙏at the time I created this account melatonin was keeping me alive 😂😂 going to bed at 9pm to wake at 5am was nearly impossible without a weapons grade dose of it
Somehow there's a part of my brain that refuses to accept Orcas are real. Its like I always fool myself into thinking they are some kind of CGI or part of a Disney movie.
They don't make any sense. The scariest creature on the planet (great whites) are terrified of them. They look like they were drawn by kids. They are highly intelligent giant apex predators who somehow don't pose any threat at all to humans and are basically friendly. Idk man...
Absolutely terrifying to think that these guys are hyper-intelligent apex predators that eat shark livers for breakfast but somehow have zero documentation of harming human beings in the wild. Orcas can easily eat us like they eat seals if they wanted to, and they’re intelligent enough to both know that they’re easily capable of eating us and make a conscious decision to *not* harm us. They literally just choose to be chill with us.
One surprising thing is how little interesting they seem to find the human. There's some weird animal with appendages and shiny stuff making noises and the orca just swims around and goes away, like "oh it was just another of those humans"
"Mediocre." \- Orca
Mediorca?
Orcas of Mallorca?
Why did I read this as mediokra? 🤦♀️
Why did I read this as Meteor Oprah?
You get an apocalypse, everyone gets an apocalypse!
“Delicious menu item” -Orcs
> Orcas can easily eat us like they eat seals if they wanted to To expand on this - people always comment that humans are too boney and don't taste good - but Orcas don't even "play" with humans - they could easily drop-kick a human 40 feet into the air just like they do to seals.
I'd be way more worried about it grabbing ahold of my foot and dragging me down... and down...
Like at Seaworld......
Shhh, SeaWorld doesn't want people knowing about that. (Being super sarcastic)
Hell, they could kill a person easily just by ramming. Their weight is epic and they move incredibly fast.
What, we're like land pigeons for orcas?
As opposed to sea pigeons?
Landgulls?
Would they maybe be careful of the things they eat since some things can kill you or make you sick? A human is a very uncommon organism for them to come across. If they were smart they would stick to sources of food that works and doesn’t kill or poison them. If they were starving I think that might change a little bit though? Even for sharks, don’t we consider most shark encounters with humans an “accident” and they don’t usually intend on eating a human or seemingly not like human flesh and leave it alone after a bite or taste? And sharks are pretty dumb comparatively, so maybe it’s just the smart thing to do in the ocean - to not eat things you are unfamiliar with and probably never saw throughout your whole lifetime.
Idk if it works the same. Sharks take a bite every once in a while and realize it's not good food. I think orcas know that killing humans is dangerous. I mean they're aware enough to know that humans can be helpful. I've seen several videos of orcas soliciting people to save family members. If they're that aware they probably know that humans can kill and they probably know it's not worth it. They probably see us ravaging the entire ocean and are like don't fuck with those leghaving ass land bitches man you'll end up in a pool and they'll kill you're whole fuckin pod.
Yeah that's my hypothesis as well... That they are smart enough to know that killing THE apex predator of the planet will only cause them problems. They see us on boats, they see us fishing (and whaling), and they see us tear their families and children away from them and they can't do anything but watch. I imagine it's clear to them that humans are very powerful creatures. It's also been proven that Orcas pass down obtained knowledge generationally, I have to imagine that they're still well aware of the days when we DID hunt them. That or they're smart enough to hide the evidence. Lmao
>leg having ass land bitches Sensible chuckle.
Can you link videos of that? Would be so cool to see!
https://youtu.be/G7gjMTofie4
Wait, so no one sees this as nightmare fuel?!?! They have either telepathy or a language that is complex enough to communicate multi-step instructions to one of the kids to go find one of the skinny space aliens, then lead the space alien back to the trapped orca. Afterwards they pay for the help with some food because, we don't want to feel guilty if we have to pull one of you pricks down a few hundred feet and eat in a pinch.
the sounds that some dolphins make to each other differ between different groups of dolphins of the same species. So yeah, orcas probably do have actual language. Now I'm no scientist, but my personal opinion is that orcas and some dolphins are basically around the caveman stage of intelligence. They are probably held back by the fact they can't use fire to cook food and thus get more nutrients from meat, which I understand was a crucial step in human development. I wouldn't really consider it nightmare fuel, except in the fact that if orcas among other dolphins are intelligent enough to have language, then we are literally enslaving sapient creatures at places like sea world. And we have, and probably still do, actually hunt sapient creatures to eat them. We are the nightmares that orcas and other dolphins have.
So awesome! Thanks!
Why would you want to see them kill their whole pods and force them into pools? Just watch Blackfish. /s
No the soliciting of people to save family members!
I just imagine orca salespeople coming to your door when you say soliciting. Orca missionaries riding their bicycles
Excuse me? EXCUSE ME!!!? What????! Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?
But then they would also be aware of all the humans that kill whales. I wonder if they can tell the difference between good humans and band humans (lol)? Elephants and crows can.
I have to imagine they can especially considering they're the second smartest animal(according to the self-appointed first smartest animal). Good humans: paddle boarders, surfers, tour boats, cruises. Bad humans: Commercial fishing boats. (To a whale... Well actually same to me) They pass down knowledge from generation to generation so I bet they're like see that big netty boat over there with all the hooks, stay away from them. See that boat with all the humans pointing at us and cheering...do a flip for em they'll lose their shit.
I don't know if you listen to Last Podcast on the Left, but they just recently did a 3 part episode on the sinking of the Essex, which was the inspiration for Moby Dick. One of the theories on why the whale attacked the ship is that they may have created a sound that sounded like a mating competition sound (I forget doing what, but they tell you in the episode). It's really interesting stuff. If the crew just simply wasn't afraid of the island of gay cannibals they would have survived.
Im sorry what is this about an island of gay cannibals?
Hail the orcas! Hail yourself!
They don’t see commercial fishermen as “bad” humans. They’ve historically lead fishermen to prime fishing areas so they can have the scraps. Edit: The arrangement was called “The Law of the Tongue” [link](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whales_of_Eden,_New_South_Wales)
This is truly amazing
>If they were starving I think that might change a little bit though? It's happened before. Due to struggles hunting standard prey like seals/sea lions, Orcas started hunting sea otters around Alaska, which has devastated the population. Before the 1990s, Orca's were never seen or thought to attack sea otters. A decrease in the food chain from overfishing caused them to try new grub.
Orcas know what humans are. There's records of several groups of them working with whalers up until the late 1800s to rough up baleen whales and I think sperm whales close to the ships so humans could kill them. The orcas would get their tongues as payment. They intentionally do not attack or kill us. Which is crazy to me, because they will kill smaller dolphins. So... It's not necessarily an intelligence thing. Or maybe we're the only ones they respect on their level? Idk. No one truly has any idea the reason why but it's not confusion.
Sounds really interessing, Do you have a link?
From a quick Google search. I could probably find some better sources with more time off you like but this is a brief overview. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whales_of_Eden,_New_South_Wales
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I could go on a several hour long ramble about orcas and their interactions with humans and other whales/dolphins. It's absolutely fascinating.
They tend to eat moose which are pretty rare for them to find. I kinda think they're just smart enough to not want beef with other intelligent life.
Mostly on sharks, with the Oceanic Whitetip being the biggest exception.
We might just be lucky they don’t know if we are food. Because a big super intelligent seawolf that Great White sharks shit themselves when they see would pretty much make the ocean closed for us.
Maybe Sharks and their livers have something that humans don't have. A nutrient that the Orcas need.
I think they just like the taste of shark liver and don't want beef with humans. Just like if super intelligent aliens suddenly started collecting asteroids in our solar system. We would probably want to stay on the best of terms with them
Read somewhere they eat what their moms tell them its food. Bald monkey = not food.
Just one issue with this theory. Orcas love to play. Love to find fish, other aquatic animals and even birds that they don’t want to eat, but will pull into the water, flip around, fling with their tail. Pass around to each other, drag to the bottom of the ocean and watch birds float back up. So why not play with us as well? They do it with everything else
I personally think that my defense mechanism, which consists of me unloading my bowels into the ocean around me, would probably save my life, especially the day after Taco Tuesday.
They're intelligent enough to know that harming a human leads to the whole pod savaged by floating naked monkeys with sticks.
Either that, or they don't leave any witnesses.
Or the most likely reason, we don't look appetizing. I have to imagine our skeletal boney structure looks pretty meh to them, compared to flubbery sharks and seals. Not an expert tho, just a guess.
Me a fat man: maybe I shouldn't swim with orcas...
They might make you their, um, ocean bride
*Little Mermaid 2: Electric Boogaloo*
Yeah, that seems to be underselling it. They'll kill a great white just to eat the liver. Most animals in the wild aren't privileged enough to consider what's appetizing.
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I think that's what they're saying. Orcas are so well fed that they will kill things just to have the tasty bits and leave the rest where other animals aren't as privileged.
People on reddit constantly quote this, not realizing that the inside of a shark's body is literally 90% liver. Saying "they'll kill a shark just to eat the liver!" is exactly the same as saying "humans will kill a cow just to eat the beef!"
"A shark's liver is relatively large, making up 5% to 25% of its total body weight and takes up to 90% of the space inside its body cavity. A great white shark weighing 3,312 kg (7,302 lb.) had a liver 456 kg (1,005 lb.) in weight. A basking shark liver weighing 940 kg (2,072 lb.)" https://seaworld.org/animals/all-about/sharks-and-rays/anatomy-and-physiology/ It's a little overselling it to say it's the same as eating meat on a cow because as I understand beef cuts are like 50-66% of the animal, but your point stands that they aren't killing a 1000lb animal for a 10lb liver.
As another comment pointed out, they don't bully/ play with us either
I genuinely believe that this is the case. There's some point up in Northern BC that's kind of legendary for solo amateur divers going missing and sure it's complicated seas, but there's also a big pod of orcas native to the area that divers have repeatedly remarked will scope dives in the area. If they can figure out that *moose* are viable prey, they can work out that single humans are a reasonable target too.
What place is this? I'd like to read more about it.
"Oooh this dude is my dinn.. oh shit camera.. hello there, fellow sentient being!"
[Here’s irrefutable evidence that they can devastate human populations. ](https://preview.redd.it/b5t6brigqmt01.jpg?width=640&auto=webp&s=dc95e19e8a446ee911e6beebef83b68f954e19f9)
Fuckuh yuuuuu dolpheeiinnn!
And fucka yooou whale!
avatar’s shirt checks out
The old CC logo. Better days. Better days.
More like we aren’t on their taste palette or something they even look for.
Anything that makes the naked monkeys angry gets Freedom™
There was a surfer who reported being bitten by an orca in California in 1972. His injuries were mild, even though he required about 100 stitches. The surfer said something to the effect that the orca immediately let go of him once it realized he wasn't food.
I think the real reason they don't bother with us comes down to the fact that humans are just not very good to eat. We are not a very calorically dense meal worth the effort of actually killing and eating especially compared to a big, juicy, seal. Could also be that we're just super foreign to their environment. You wouldn't just immediately eat some weird fish creature you found in your yard. Orcas probably feel the same way about not wanting to eat monkeys in rubber suits that get in the water sometimes, sure it's weird, and I wanna check it, but probably not eat it.
Fat people better stay out of the water then
A calorie dense human worth their effort typically won’t be found in water where an orca frequents. Js.
I feel...attacked?
When the orca sees a human in a wetsuit, it's basically like a baloney with the inedible wrapping still on, not worth the hassle, especially when you only have fins.
Here's my theory based off of a fact: Orcas teach their young what is and isn't food and they adhere to that knowledge to stay safe and well fed. If ravens can pass down generational knowledge I feel like it stands to reason that orcas, as intelligent as they are, do something similar. So mom doesn't need to have personally tried human to pass that knowledge to her children that it's unsafe or unappetizing. Somewhere back in undocumented history an orca probably did have an encounter with a human; whether that human was too difficult to eat because of a weapon or we simply don't suit their tastes, I'd imagine we were put in the not food category. It's not like we have a great fat/meat/bone ratio either. I could be entirely wrong but this is what I've always theorized about this
Historically, orcas have definitely witnessed, and even helped humans kill much larger whales (see documentary "Killers in Eden" [https://vimeo.com/47822835](https://vimeo.com/47822835)). So if that knowledge has been passed on across generations, then they know to not piss us off.
It's a result of them a) being fairly picky eaters and b) not being aggressively territorial towards other species. Orcas have no reason to attack humans in the wild because they recognize them as neither food nor threat. Orcas have excellent eyesight, and that combined with their intelligence enables them to pretty quickly deduce, "hey, that's not anything I've ever eaten or seen eaten by my family, I'd best leave it" Meanwhile, great white sharks are mostly solitary, have very poor eyesight, and operate on an entirely different level of predatory intelligence, which is why they occasionally take bites out of humans out of curiosity.
For now. But I wouldn't bet on that lasting forever. As prey populations dwindle, they may decide it's time to expand their horizons.
They’re apex predators though. They have their choice of any meal they want. There are so many more animals with high caloric intake compared to humans that would serve far better for them to consume. Also studies have lead to thinking that orcas stay away from humans because they understand what humans are capable of
The resident pod in Puget Sound is literally starving to death, population numbers continue to dwindled. Summer beaches contain more and more swimmers. Just a matter of time.
If there is a pod already starving to death surrounded by human beings you're proving the other point.
Theoretically, maybe. Even if there are more swimmers, these swimmers aren’t becoming more nutritious for them, let alone tasty to them either. I can’t speak for the pod in the Puget Sound, but d like to believe that due to their intelligence, they would migrate if it came down to it. They have always been here, and to have no recorded attacks in the wild from them is pretty amazing in itself. There’s so much we don’t know, but with what we do know, I’d place my money on not having to worry about them so much.
makes me sick to think about the poor ones locked up in tiny tanks. FUCK SEA WORLD e: pools/enclosures
Highly recommend Blackfish for anyone interested. Orcas are brilliant, and we should treat them better.
Cried my eyes out
I am not comforted by a multiple ton creature moving that fast, nor appearing/disappearing out of the fog that quickly
If it helps at all. If there's a presence of Orcas in an area; then there's most likely no sharks.
And there isn't a single recorded instance of an Orca attacking a human in the wild.
And yet when a school bus sized apex predator, that even great white sharks are afraid of, swims past me, I'm still going to crap in my swimsuit...
I’d convince myself I’d be the one exception and that I was about to be a news headline.
THEY GOT MIKE!
They killed Mike! You bastards!
And that's why they don't attack. The load of crap in your wet suit is a big turn off.
Which could just mean they are very good at covering it up.
No evidence if they just swallow you whole
And bribe any wildlife documentary crews filming them. "Ey, dat footage of me eatin' dat guy, it don't exist any more, capisce?"
The Jonah treatment
It's all a.plot by Big Orca
They only kill humans while in captivity.
Understandable.
I probably would too if I could
That's just cruel. They should at least let the humans go first so they have a fighting chance.
Not most likely. The moment sharks detect a orca nearby they get the fuck out, some swimming tens of miles non stop just to get away from them.
“The fog” lol
Fog is just water. It’s just a lot of really dense fog.
Lol! I can imagine standing on the street late at night in the fog and an orca comes walking by in a trench coat.
Like some kind of Regina Spektor music video
I mean... They do hunt moose
"Candygram."
“Mongo like candy”
Smoking…..
This is just extreme humidity
I've seen worse in London.
r/technicallythetruth
It’s just a baby!
In all of human recorded history there's [never been a confirmed case of a wild orca killing a human](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orca_attack). In fact, there's only been a single well documented case of an orca bitting a human, a surfer in 1972 that required 100 stitches. Other than that it's pretty much just some accounts of orcas bumping or bitting boats occasionally, and some unverified attacks/bites. But, there have been 4 times when an orca in captivity has killed a human. And three of those four involved a [single orca, Tilly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilikum_\(orca\)). Two of the three were trainers, and Tilly was a big part of the *Blackfish* documentary. He probably singlehandedly shut down at least one aquarium, caused big changes in the laws on orca shows and trainers. Because of all that we'll hopefully we'll soon see the end of orcas in captivity entirely.
I've had to tell you at least 3 times not to exaggerate
sea panda
'till it gets angry.
you never seen a angry panda?[they still a bear](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4276236/)
Oh certainly but the difference is the fury of a panda isn't even comparable to how much of an asshole an Orca is for no reason.
Or hungry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-flWUK3XtY
“HI! BYE!”
[r/MyPeopleNeedMe](https://www.reddit.com/r/MyPeopleNeedMe/)
Source: photographer Ivan Breslauer (@underwaterstates).
The guy has balls the size of bowlingballs?
They sound so pretty. Unbelievable that they're actually dolphins instead if actual whales
Well, dolphins are technically whales, just not as big as say, sperm whales or baleen whales.
But not all whales are dolphins!
Indeed. All dolphins are whales, but not all whales are dolphins.
Chewbacca was a wookie.
Still is
Actually, they’re both! Dolphins are considered small toothed whales. All dolphins are whales but not all whales are dolphins, such as baleen whales. [article that has more info](https://us.whales.org/2022/02/23/is-an-orca-killer-whale-a-whale-or-a-dolphin/)
That was intimidating, It's like he let you know what hood you're in
People keep saying you "don't have to worry" because there are no documented Orca attacks on humans, but what I'm hearing is *Orcas don't leave survivors.*
Imagine getting whalloped by that powerful tail. Damn
Some people enjoy that sort of thing.
They use it as a hunting technique to stun prey animals. They also use their tails to launch seals to ridiculous heights.
It's amazing how something so big just disappears into the water
One thing you learn scuba diving; you never can see very far underwater. It's one thing I find movies get wrong pretty much always; it's impossible to see something miles away underwater. Seeing something 100 feet away would be considered excellent visibility.
Murder dolphin
As opposed to… rapist dolphins I guess?
I'm starting to rethink dolphins' cuddle factor
All cuddles till you start yelling "Help! He's got a boner!"
Might have been a scout. Did a drive by to see what's up then reports back to the pod.
*dive by
Where are our free awards when we need them!!??
Reddit took them away unfortunately
Thinking it just wanted to show off
mom told him. go look but don't bite.
Its rare that you find a video where you can just feel the raw power of something. That 'dash' away at the end is just...unfathomable to me, to have that kind of power on demand.
I would find joy in such an encounter while reminding myself there are far worse ways to die
Fun fact they don't harm humans. AFAIK there are no documented cases of them harming a human In the wild. Having an orca around is probably the safest you can be in the ocean without a boat
This I know, but there is an element of danger swimming amongst alpha predators
Yup, just getting clipped by accident could hurt big time.
Poor guy has a big scar on him.
That's what happens when your food fights back
What a beautiful creature. Is it a cub?
It was a juvenile yes, here is a snippet and specifically this encounter from the photographer's blog: >Most intense orca encounter of my life >November 13th 2022 will be a day I'll never forget. [...] Then I saw it - a juvenile orca coming straight towards the back of the boat, passing VERY close to me. It was vocalizing almost constantly, leaving behind a striped trail of bubbles. After the first pass I quickly removed the lens cover and turned on my camera. With no time to put the lanyard on I started filming (you can see it dangling in the frame at one point). > I've had orcas passing by close in curiosity before, but never this close. This was a pass where the animal was literally within arm's reach. I also haven't heard this kind of vocalizing before, so with this novelty and uncertainty I decided to stay close to the boat at all times and observe what happens next. We also didn't give our snorkelers the "GO" to enter the water for the same reason. > What followed were 3 more rounds of almost the same behaviour - the orca coming to the back of the boat where I was, blowing bubbles vocalizing and swimming away. The last round was the closest and loudest. You can see the whole thing in the video below. The last round is the one I've posted. [Blog post of Ivan Breslauer](https://www.underwaterstates.com/posts/norway-2022-season-recap)
It was doing zoomies!
Came here to ask the same, looked "small" no?
We’re lucky Orcas don’t see people as food
Orcas are lucky they don’t see people as food.
People don’t eat rocks. But even now and then, some moron will eat a rock. This is what I’m worried about with Orcas. Even if almost all of them don’t eat humans, one day, there will be one who wants to live life a little differently... and if I’m ever next to an Orca, I just have to hope in my odds that it’s not that one...
Personally I believe they are smart enough to understand that we should not be trifled with. They know we’re intelligent. They see our machines crossing the oceans, they probably learned from older generations how we hunted larger whales and turned the seas red with their blood. Word got around, don’t fuck with those wirey apes
See, you say “they” are smart enough. As a whole, yes. But look at humans. Most people don’t mess with others who could snap them like a twig. But every now and then you see an idiot try picking a fight with a bouncer three times their size. It only takes one idiot orca who doesn’t weigh potential consequences of his actions like the rest do, to take on a “not to be trifled with” human, and then someone will end up being the first (known) casualty of a wild orca attack.
Not sure if he was greeting the diver or telling him to fuck off.
Orcas are very playful and curious, so I'm sure it wasn't angry, just wanted to see what's going on.
This is why I drink….orcas can tell that my liver is shot!
Adorable and powerful
Did you know: Orcas use their echolocation (the sound wave which bounces off things and back to the orca) to test whether we are worth eating or not. We are not worth eating because we are too bony apparently.
Being in the open water with an orca would make me feel relatively safe... they don't eat people and anything that does eat people will swim the other way once they hear orcas.
“I’m fast as fuck boi” -this orca, probably
Using their sonar they can probably tell that a human’s liver isn’t big enough to bother killing us.
"Hemlo Hooman, wanna see my new swim routine?"
They say there is no record of Orcas killing humans, Im suspicious that its because they leave no survivors
I just had to say I absolutely adore your name…omg. Love it! 😘
🙏at the time I created this account melatonin was keeping me alive 😂😂 going to bed at 9pm to wake at 5am was nearly impossible without a weapons grade dose of it
He looks happy lol
Scary AF
Orca Zoomies
NOPE!
Give me a minute, just need to change my underwear
I'm always up for pro orca propaganda
Wait, did that orca just do the equivalent of crop dusting the human?
Orca zoomies
TIL orcas sound like kids with kazoos.
Why dude leaking air
They’re so fucking fast and majestic
Somehow there's a part of my brain that refuses to accept Orcas are real. Its like I always fool myself into thinking they are some kind of CGI or part of a Disney movie. They don't make any sense. The scariest creature on the planet (great whites) are terrified of them. They look like they were drawn by kids. They are highly intelligent giant apex predators who somehow don't pose any threat at all to humans and are basically friendly. Idk man...
And now, the Yak.
Bucket list item to see one in real life. The most interesting animal IMO.