Killer Whales Don't Usually Kill People

 

I read that a trainer was killed by a killer whale at SeaWorld Orlando in 2010 but it doesn't change the fact that these giants, they do not kill humans at sea.

They have never killed a human in the wild. That's mostly because, unlike sharks, killer whales don't frequent near-shore areas where people swim. Even shark attacks on humans are generally accidental, sharks mistaking humans for seals or other typical food.

 

The orca that killed a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando in 2010 probably didn't intentionally kill the trainer. A SeaWorld trainer said “possibly the killer whale just got bored, since their lives in captivity are more confined than at sea where they spend time swimming hundreds of miles while hunting or playing “.

 

In general, killer whales are very intelligent and playful animals, amusing themselves anything from kelp to seals. But even though they are shown off at aquaria with fuzzy stuffed animals to boot, they are still wild animals and they are big, growing to 32 feet (nearly 10 meters) and weigh a whopping 18,000 pounds (8,164 kg), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). As apex predators, killer whales have few enemies, vulnerable only to large sharks.

 

Their fierce reputation comes from interactions with whales, not humans. In fact, sailors who witnessed killer whale attacks on larger cetaceans referred to the animals as "whale killers." That name changed to killer whales. The Spanish sometimes refer to the orca as Ballena asesina, meaning "assassin whale," according to the MarineBio Conservation Society.

 

Not all orcas dine on mammals. Those living in Norway prefer fish. But the so-called transients, which occur throughout the eastern North Pacific, eat other marine mammals, such as dolphins, sea lions and seals.