'icky', 'Ack' ??????
[mumbles to self] "must be something American" :33: [/mumbles to self]
[mumbles to self] "must be something American" :33: [/mumbles to self]
ORCA Attack Human?
- Thread starter Otter
- Start date
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Is he the 'headless moderator'?
The Kraken
He Who Glows in the Dark Waters (ADVISOR)
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Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
If this stuff gets any deeper, you guys are in for some loooooooooooooooooog deco time . . . ! ! !
The only case I know of where a wild Orca grabbed a human was in Argentina in the early 80s.
Scientists were studying seals and sea lions. They were diving with the seals when a pod of Orcas arrived. The seals were getting out of the water FAST and the scientists though that was a good idea.
Picture a mass of seals getting out with a couple of scientists mixed in.
One Orca grabbed one of the scientists and almost instantly let him go. The scientist was not injured and not even bruised. This would argue that the Orca very quickly understood that he was not biting a seal.
At this location Orcas grab seals off of the beach and pull them out to deeper water where they have little or no chance of escape.
There are a number of cases of captive Orcas that have injured trainers. Usually bored or angry animals expressing themselves in one of very few ways available.
Scientists were studying seals and sea lions. They were diving with the seals when a pod of Orcas arrived. The seals were getting out of the water FAST and the scientists though that was a good idea.
Picture a mass of seals getting out with a couple of scientists mixed in.
One Orca grabbed one of the scientists and almost instantly let him go. The scientist was not injured and not even bruised. This would argue that the Orca very quickly understood that he was not biting a seal.
At this location Orcas grab seals off of the beach and pull them out to deeper water where they have little or no chance of escape.
There are a number of cases of captive Orcas that have injured trainers. Usually bored or angry animals expressing themselves in one of very few ways available.
Bob3
Contributor
Divers are pretty safe, as people wearing scuba gear don't SOUND tastey. That air space in the tank throws back a "ping" that would sound to the critter to be harder than granite.
As a matter of interest years ago there was a BBC documentary called the 'Trials of Life' - (David Attenborough). One of the programs had footage of Orcas grabbing seals off the beach. They then dragged them a couple of hundred meters offshore and 'played' with them, throwing them clear of the water only to recapture them and do it again - cat and mouse - Orca style. The seals were still very much alive (as the mouse is) and only got actually eaten when they were dead (or was so near to death they couldn't struggle so were 'no fun'. This would presumably suggest that the Orcas had more than enough time to realize what they were 'playing' with and as far as I know they have never acted like that with people. A couple of years later there was another documentary (I can't remember what it was called) where some guy hung aroung a resident pod in a small rowboat until in the end he got in the water with them to film them. He at least made it to finish his film - and I suppose it proves that Orcas know what they like to eat - and they don't like people!!
OP
Here I was thinking I had caught Ken on the 'attach' and then I re-read my post and see I goofed up.....dangit! I was ready to defend my grammar -- and I see I made a typo!
Meanwhile back to the thread -- the original one, not the one that got hijacked into a standup comedy routine for an unnamed icky moderator type....
As for bite and taste: GWs just aren't that smart, thats how they figure out whats edible. On the other hand, I had assumed that and ORCAs superior intelligence (superior to Otters in particular) would allow it to ascertain what human divers where in fact NOT food. Now that doesn't mean that a ORCA with an attitude wouldn't just decide to eliminate that bubble maker if so inclined.
An additional concerning point: ORCAs that prefer to eat pengunis have refined the act of peeling the outer skin/feathers off (in a single piece) and eating the juicy inside. I suspect a wetsuit might be removed in a similar fashion.
Meanwhile back to the thread -- the original one, not the one that got hijacked into a standup comedy routine for an unnamed icky moderator type....
As for bite and taste: GWs just aren't that smart, thats how they figure out whats edible. On the other hand, I had assumed that and ORCAs superior intelligence (superior to Otters in particular) would allow it to ascertain what human divers where in fact NOT food. Now that doesn't mean that a ORCA with an attitude wouldn't just decide to eliminate that bubble maker if so inclined.
An additional concerning point: ORCAs that prefer to eat pengunis have refined the act of peeling the outer skin/feathers off (in a single piece) and eating the juicy inside. I suspect a wetsuit might be removed in a similar fashion.
Nay
Contributor
I've seen another documentary (I want to saw Blue Planet but I'm probably wrong) where it shows Orcas hunting seals by rushing the shore, grabbing a baby and scooting back out into the water.
The frequently threw the seals yards into the air an sort of played with them, either for fun or to stun/kill them to be eaten but if you see how hard they're hit initially, I'd be surprised if they lived at all.
The amazing thing about it was this, after they had eaten, they returned one seal to the beach. !!!!! Apparently they were full or something and weren't going to eat him so they returned him to the beach.
Talk about amazing animals.
The frequently threw the seals yards into the air an sort of played with them, either for fun or to stun/kill them to be eaten but if you see how hard they're hit initially, I'd be surprised if they lived at all.
The amazing thing about it was this, after they had eaten, they returned one seal to the beach. !!!!! Apparently they were full or something and weren't going to eat him so they returned him to the beach.
Talk about amazing animals.
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