Are Killer Whales Dangerous? (Wild and Captive Behavior)
Killer whales, otherwise known as orcas, are probably one of the most prominent marine species known to man, and for good reason. The name killer whale sounds dangerous but are these beautiful and complex animals as dangerous as their name indicates? Are killer whales dangerous?
Killer whales (orcas) are apex predators, but they’re not naturally aggressive towards all other animals. Killer whales in the wild have not shown aggressive behavior towards humans. However, several cases of aggressive behavior (even death) have been documented in captivity.
Killer whales are sometimes considered the apex of not only their own trophic pyramid but of all the other interconnecting marine trophic pyramids. This means that considering all other flora and fauna that form these trophic pyramids, killer whales stand out on top, meaning they have no further predators that naturally hunt them and that the transfer of energy ends with them.
As you might imagine, killer whales are very powerful animals that, when hunting together as a pack (which they usually do), are almost unstoppable. As such, you might think that killer whales are very aggressive animals.
However, this may not necessarily be true, as discussed in this article. In addition, we’ll also discuss if killer whales are dangerous to humans, as it is quite common to see them in aquariums worldwide.
Are Killer Whales Naturally Aggressive?
Despite what one might think, killer whales are actually not aggressive in the wild, especially towards humans. Because killer whales are very social animals who live amongst individual packs, they actually have quite a picky palate among their different communities. This pickiness can cause them to pursue only specific animals and ignore others entirely.[1]Morris, E. 2011. Why Killer Whales Don’t Eat People: Where Science and Legend Meet, KQED, https://www.kqed.org/quest/20655/why-killer-whales don’t-eat-people-where-science-and-legend-meet
Killer whales can be separated into resident and transient killer whales. Resident orcas have a diet consisting more of fish, while transient orcas lean more towards marine mammals such as sea lions and dolphins.
It has been observed that some Southern resident orcas of the Puget Sound would eat the larger Chinook salmon while completely ignoring the smaller, skinner salmon. Transient orcas, having similar selective diets, have been seen, in one instance, eating only the tongue of a gray whale.[2]Morris, E. 2011. Why Killer Whales Don’t Eat People: Where Science and Legend Meet, KQED, https://www.kqed.org/quest/20655/why-killer-whales don’t-eat-people-where-science-and-legend-meet
Thus, this idea of having very specialized diets proves that killer whales generally are not naturally aggressive and attack anything they come across.
Are Killer Whales Dangerous for Humans?
In Nature
Although commonly known as killer whales, these apex predators aren’t dangerous in the wild for humans. Though the reason may differ and is up for debate, it has been proven that, with the proper precautions, it is unlikely for killer whales to harm humans in the wild.
This was proven in an experiment that was conducted with a specific group of Norwegian killer whales. To describe the behavior of killer whales via an ethogram, human divers and snorkelers were introduced to the killer whales and recorded their behavior via underwater video recordings.
As part of their study, the divers and snorkelers recorded the rate of occurrence of different behaviors among the killer whales, with the most frequent being ‘calling’ and ‘eye contact’. Overall, no aggressive or dangerous behavior was found throughout the study.[3]Luck, M. & Scheer, M. 2016. Swim encounters with killer whales (Orcinus orca) off Northern Norway: interactive behaviours directed towards human divers and snorkellers obtained from … Continue reading
In Captivity
Because killer whales are commonly seen as the stars of aquariums or marine parks due to their common presence in performance shows, you may be tempted to think that these animals must be very docile. However, this may not always be the case.
Of course, killer whales being aggressive toward humans in aquariums and marine parks are very rare. However, they do happen. For example, SeaWorld documented that between 1988 and 2009, there were over 100 instances where killer whales were recorded to act aggressively towards their human trainers, of which eleven had been injured and one resulted in death.[4]Daly, N. 2019. Orcas don’t do well in captivity. Here’s why, National Geographic, <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/orcas-captivity-welfare>
Is It Safe to Swim with Killer Whales?
This answer will depend on whether we’re talking about swimming in captivity or in the wild. Of course, swimming freely with killer whales in captivity is impossible regardless of their behavior. Thus we’ll be looking at the wild situation.
As mentioned earlier in the Norwegian study, killer whales were found to be relatively docile in the wild even with divers and snorkelers nearby. This, however, was also because the divers and snorkelers took proper precautions and minimized as much disturbance as possible to avoid agitating the killer whales.[5]Luck, M. & Scheer, M. 2016. Swim encounters with killer whales (Orcinus orca) off Northern Norway: interactive behaviours directed towards human divers and snorkellers obtained from … Continue reading
It is also believed to be safe to swim with killer whales in the wild because there has not been a single human attack in the wild, as opposed to the rare attacks that have occurred in captivity. Although killer whales are apex predators known to hunt animals as large as whales and sharks, there has not been a single documented attack on humans in the wild.
This may be due to several reasons that are up to debate, including them having specific diets that don’t include humans, humans not resembling any of their prey, and that there is simply a social norm stating humans are “off limits”.[6]Morris, E. 2011. Why Killer Whales Don’t Eat People: Where Science and Legend Meet, KQED, https://www.kqed.org/quest/20655/why-killer-whales don’t-eat-people-where-science-and-legend-meet
So, it can be assumed that it is safe to swim with killer whales in the wild, but with proper precautions.
What Can Cause Aggressive Behavior?
Killer whales have been observed to be very docile in the wild. The main reasons why they are observed to be more aggressive are due to being kept in captivity. Mainly, there are two contributing factors that can cause aggression:
- limited space in captivity
- stress due to social disruption
Captive Orcas Have Limited Space
The limited space given to captive killer whales severely undermines their natural behaviors in the ocean. Because killer whales are large mammals that migrate extremely far distances in the ocean for food and mating, the tight spaces provided to them in captivity can cause them extreme distress. This is common not just in killer whales but in all animals who typically migrate such as polar bears and elephants.[7]Daly, N. 2019. Orcas don’t do well in captivity. Here’s why, National Geographic,<https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/orcas-captivity-welfare>
Social Disruption Causes Stress
Not only are some captive killer whales kept alone in their tanks, but many offspring are typically separated from their mothers at a very young age. If killer whales are not isolated, then they can still be stressed due to being unable to escape the conflict between other killer whales due to the limited space.
In either case, the combination of being unable to follow their natural instincts in the ocean and the inability to conduct normal social behavior with other killer whales can place extreme levels of stress on killer whales, leading to them being aggressive and causing either self-harm or harm to other animals and humans.[8]Daly, N. 2019. Orcas don’t do well in captivity. Here’s why, National Geographic, <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/orcas-captivity-welfare>
Want to Learn More About Killer Whales (Orcas)?
If you’re interested in learning more about killer whales you should definitely read the following articles:
- Are Killer Whales Omnivores?
- Are Killer Whales Mammals?
- Are Killer Whales Matriarchal?
References
↑1, ↑2, ↑6 | Morris, E. 2011. Why Killer Whales Don’t Eat People: Where Science and Legend Meet, KQED, https://www.kqed.org/quest/20655/why-killer-whales don’t-eat-people-where-science-and-legend-meet |
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↑3, ↑5 | Luck, M. & Scheer, M. 2016. Swim encounters with killer whales (Orcinus orca) off Northern Norway: interactive behaviours directed towards human divers and snorkellers obtained from opportunistic underwater video recordings. Journal of Ecotourism, 16, 2, 190-200. |
↑4, ↑8 | Daly, N. 2019. Orcas don’t do well in captivity. Here’s why, National Geographic, <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/orcas-captivity-welfare> |
↑7 | Daly, N. 2019. Orcas don’t do well in captivity. Here’s why, National Geographic,<https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/orcas-captivity-welfare> |