Orca attacking whale sharks

[MB NZ]

Do you think human divers are at risk if they dive in these areas? Or am I being overly paranoid?!

With orca attacking/playing with* boats in the Strait of Gibraltar. Would any of you whale loving hippies get in the water for a swim with them? I wouldn't.

*Delete as you see fit.

 

[fab208]

I might not jump in if I saw them, but I can imagine being in a situation where you're already on a dive & they appear... I'd be so excited, but also pooping in my wetsuit....

 

[MB NZ]

It happens not infrequently in NZ. I was on a small RIB with some mates and a couple of kids and a pod approached us in two metres of water. We had just been snorkelling/freediving and had no idea they were in the area. They were hunting stingrays. Seeing the male up close put things in perspective, it was bloody huge! Sadly, not one camera or phone between all of us!

Another encounter when I was jetski fishing. I was drifting when four young adults came in fast from each direction. They stopped just off the ski and decided I wasn't food. I didn't know whether to **** myself, get out the area or get the camera! A very cool experience.

 

[admikar]

It happens not infrequently in NZ. I was on a small RIB with some mates and a couple of kids and a pod approached us in two metres of water. We had just been snorkelling/freediving and had no idea they were in the area. They were hunting stingrays. Seeing the male up close put things in perspective, it was bloody huge! Sadly, not one camera or phone between all of us!

Another encounter when I was jetski fishing. I was drifting when four young adults came in fast from each direction. They stopped just off the ski and decided I wasn't food. I didn't know whether to **** myself, get out the area or get the camera! A very cool experience.

OK, so far we know you didn't get out of the area, you did get the camera, but what happened with ******** yourself? C'mon man, suspense is killing us here!

 

[CuzzA]

This is a new, learned behavior by orcas, and no one knows for sure why they are hunting in this way. There are two orcas in South Africa named Port and Starboard that have killed a lot of great whites by just taking the liver, and now, the white shark cage diving industry is gone. They were first sighted in 2015 or 2016. We are killing our oceans with overpopulation, overfishing, illegal fishing and shark finning, and one theory is that the orcas are adjusting to a lack of food by hunting differently to adapt to the human destruction of their habitat.

No. They've been doing this for a long time.

 

[PBcatfish]

This is a more recently posted video of an Orca jumping a Great White. In the past, I've seen a large shark jumped by a larger shark, from much the same angle, but I've never seen an Orca in action.

 

[MB NZ]

This is a more recently posted video of an Orca jumping a Great White. In the past, I've seen a large shark jumped by a larger shark, from much the same angle, but I've never seen an Orca in action.

It was a cool video, the speed of the orca was amazing. It would have been like getting hit by a formula one truck! Nothing appeals to the teenage boy in all of us more than what animal could beat up another animal.

 

[virus_dmk]

Just need to find shark nose to be safe

 

[WillandBill]

It happens not infrequently in NZ. I was on a small RIB with some mates and a couple of kids and a pod approached us in two metres of water. We had just been snorkelling/freediving and had no idea they were in the area. They were hunting stingrays. Seeing the male up close put things in perspective, it was bloody huge! Sadly, not one camera or phone between all of us!

Another encounter when I was jetski fishing. I was drifting when four young adults came in fast from each direction. They stopped just off the ski and decided I wasn't food. I didn't know whether to **** myself, get out the area or get the camera! A very cool experience.

I remember seeing a social media post featuring drone footage of an NZ ocean swimmer being followed by a mother orca and calf. With a caption gushingly describing it as an amazing and ‘friendly’ interaction. Footage didn’t look friendly to me - looked more like mum was seriously considering a ‘hunting skills’ lesson for her calf!

 

[MB NZ]

I remember seeing a social media post featuring drone footage of an NZ ocean swimmer being followed by a mother orca and calf. With a caption gushingly describing it as an amazing and ‘friendly’ interaction. Footage didn’t look friendly to me - looked more like mum was seriously considering a ‘hunting skills’ lesson for her calf!

Yeah, they generally seem good natured towards humans if I can anthropomorphise, but all groups have their miscreants and with big, powerful animals, that's playing with fire. In the first encounter I described, the dorsal fin of the male would have been getting on for 1.5 metres in height, that focused the mind! Part of me would like to dive with them, but I don't think it would be sensible to get in the water when they are around.

Diver survives death spiral

A free diver who was dragged to the depths of the ocean by a killer whale has told how he got down to his "last breath" during the terrifying ordeal.

www.nzherald.co.nz