so who has ever been/ felt like orca bait?

[seakdivers]

A few weekends ago, we kept shifting from bay to bay because we had a mom (?) and baby orca following our boat! We finally got into an area that they didn't follow us into, but I was sooo nervous!!! This time of year the plankton bloom is pretty thick, so visibility was 10-15 feet, and I was just waiting for a rush of black & white with teeth to come at me!
Aaagh.... I think I watch the Discovery Channel too much! lol

 

[Uncle Pug]

seakdivers once bubbled...
I was just waiting for a rush of black & white with teeth to come at me!

 

[Scubasonic]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...

I thought that was only artists that were famous after they die, not DIVERS !!!:wacko:

-SS

 

[GearHead]

Well, I haven't been in the water with Orcas yet, that I know of, but I'd LOVE to have the chance! Sure, it would be a little bit freaky, and there would be a huge adrenalin rush, but it would be amazing to interact with the very top of the ocean's food chain.

 

[2Dive4fun]

I dove from my boat with three other divers on the west side of San Juan Island south of Lime Kiln. We knew the Orcas were north of us, but less than a mile away. Half way through the dive we started to hear their calls. They were getting louder every minute. I had several rock fish on my stringer and wondered if that was a good idea. I started looking over my shoulder several times a minute just to see if anything was sneaking up on me. On my swim back to the boat, a harbor seal swam fast in front of me..... I thought I was Orca bait for sure.....what a rush.

 

[Zagnut]

..but I never really thought about orca encounters before. Yeah, that would be pretty freaky...but cool (I guess as long as you weren't mistaken for a seal).

Have any of you all ever heard of any divers ever encountering an orca during a dive? That's one I'd like to hear about.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Zagnut once bubbled...
[BHave any of you all ever heard of any divers ever encountering an orca during a dive? That's one I'd like to hear about. [/B]

We motored through what appeared to be several pods spread out between our home port and the dive site for the day.

We kept clear of the whales until we arrived on site. Right there where we were planning to dive was a large male with a huge dorsal fin. He didn't seem inclined to move out of our area so we decided to go diving anyway. He was about a hundred yards from us when we splashed.

During the dive we kept figuring he would come check us out... but he never did. Upon surfacing one of the guys who elected to stay on the boat said that as soon as we dropped in and started making bubbles all the whales left the area.

So... no Orca encounter for me.

 

[pipedope]

I know of only one documented case of an orca attack (more like a mistake) on a human diver. The divers were studing seals in Argentina. When the orcas arrived the seals started getting out of the water so the divers thought that was a good idea. An orca came up and grabbed one of the divers by the leg and instantly spit him out.

Seals and sea lions are much more likely to hurt you than orcas,
especially leapard seals but you are not likely to meet up with those guys outside of Antarctica.

 

[Uncle Pug]

pipedope once bubbled...
Seals and sea lions are much more likely to hurt you than orcas

...and as Mom says, "It's fun until somebody gets hurt!"

Around here the sealions can have fun with you. I had one tackle me once... but I've never been bitten.

One of my dive buddies was doing a solo dive when a gang of sealions decided to make sport of him. They were having a lot of fun with him... he on the other hand was not having any fun at all. They used him for a chew toy.

 

[Dive_Girl PNW]

pipedope once bubbled...
I know of only one documented case of an orca attack (more like a mistake) on a human diver.

Can you point me to where that is documented? I have always been told there are no documented orca attacks on humans except for those in captivity. There have been some human/whale interactions in the wild that I have read about, but not orcas (non-whales anyway). It would be good for me to not pass on incorrect info to my students. Thanks!