Orca attacks

s are large, powerful aquatic apex predators. There have been incidents where orcas were perceived to attack humans in the wild, but such attacks are less common than those by captive orcas. In captivity, there have been several non-fatal and four fatal attacks on humans since the 1990s. Experts are divided as to whether the injuries and deaths were accidental or deliberate attempts to cause harm.

Incidents with wild orcas

There are a few recorded cases of wild orcas "threatening" humans, but there have been no fatalities.

1910s

In the early 1910s, on Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova Expedition, one member of the expedition recorded that orcas had attempted to tip ice floes on which photographer Herbert Ponting and a sled dog team were standing.

1950s

There are anecdotal reports that,, an Inuk man fell prey to an orca entrapped by ice in Grand Suttie Bay. A pod of orcas, likely 10-12 individuals, was trapped in a polynya, and a young man visited the site in spite of advice from elders to wait until the ice was strong enough. Two Inuit elders stated to a research team that one of the animals chased the young man, broke the ice under him, then killed and ate him. However, the researchers were not able to directly confirm this, as one of the elders clearly stated that he had not witnessed the event himself. The other elder did not clarify whether he had seen it happen. As the ice thickened, two to three whales were taken by Inuit hunters, and three more were harpooned but tore the lines. The rest of the pod likely died of starvation or drowned.
In 1958, an orca attacked the fishing boat Tiger Shark after being struck with a harpoon off the coast of Long Island. The whale was able to get free and chased the vessel for some time. At one point he lifted the boat "clear out of the water".

1960s

In September 1962 in Washington waters off the west side of San Juan Island, Marineland of the Pacific collector Frank Brocato lassoed a female salmon-eating southern resident orca. When she and an accompanying male thumped his boat with their flukes, Brocato started shooting from his rifle, killing the female—the first of many southern residents to be killed in capture operations. Her body was towed to Bellingham to be rendered for dog food.

1970s

On June 15, 1972, the hull of the wooden schooner Lucette was damaged by what was identified as a pod of orcas and sank approximately west of the Galapagos Islands. Dougal Robertson and his family of five escaped to an inflatable life raft and a dinghy.
On September 9, 1972, Californian surfer Hans Kretschmer reported being bitten by an orca at Point Sur; most maintain that this remains the only fairly well-documented instance of a wild orca biting a human. His wounds required 100 stitches. Because Kretschmer was wearing a black wetsuit and several sea lions were spotted in the area where the encounter took place, experts believe it was a case of mistaken identity.
On March 9, 1976, the Italian racing yacht Guia III was rammed and sunk by an orca off the coast of Brazil. The vessel was hit once by an individual out of a pod of four to five orcas. The crew of six successfully escaped to a liferaft. The whales showed no reaction to the escaping humans a few meters away from them.

1980s

In 1989 American researcher Bernd Würsig published an article about having been attacked by an orca on a beach of the Valdes Peninsula. A single individual, possibly as big as 9 metres, beached towards him while he was watching sea lions about 200 metres away from him in hopes of taking a photograph of an orca hunt. Dr Würsig ran up the beach after the animal missed him by about 1 metre. He speculated that the whale might have mistaken him for a seal.

2000s

In August 2005, while swimming in four feet of water in Helm Bay, near Ketchikan, Alaska, a 12-year-old boy named Ellis Miller was bumped in the shoulder by a transient orca. The boy was not bitten or injured in any way. The bay is frequented by harbor seals, and it is possible that the whale misidentified him as prey.

2010s

During the filming of the third episode of the BBC documentary Frozen Planet, a group of orcas were filmed trying to swamp the film crew's zodiac boat with waves as they were filming. The crew had earlier taped the group hunting seals in the same fashion. It was not mentioned if any of the crew were hurt in the encounter. The crew described the orcas as being very tolerant of the film makers' presence. Over the course of 14 days they filmed over 20 different attacks on seals, many of which the film series producer Vanessa Berlowitz described as training exercises for the young calves in the group.
On February 10, 2014, a free diver in Horahora Estuary near Whangārei, New Zealand, was pulled down for over 40 seconds by an orca that grabbed a bag containing crayfish and urchins which was attached to his arm by a rope. The rope eventually came free. He then undid his weight belt and returned to the surface. He had lost all feeling in his arm and could no longer swim, but his cousin was nearby and helped him float to some rocks where the feeling in his arm returned. Local whale rescuer Jo Halliday thought the incident was more like a potential entanglement than an attack. She said, "I think it's been a pure accident and not an attack of any kind. I'd say the animal has panicked from the feel of the line and the man got dragged along with it." When the rope became undone, the orca did not attack but rather moved away.

2020s

From 2020 to 2024, there were at least five hundred reports of orcas interacting with boats off the Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal, an unusual and unprecedented behaviour. Some of these interactions involved orcas touching or damaging boats. The nudging, biting and ramming attacks concentrated on the rudders of medium-size sailing vessels sailing at moderate speed, with some impacts on the hulls. A small group of orcas were believed to be responsible, with three juveniles which have been named black Gladis, white Gladis, and grey Gladis identified as present for most attacks. No people were injured. The Portuguese coastguard banned small sailing vessels from a region where several incidents had been reported. It is thought by some that the behavior was playful, rather than aggressive or vengeful. However, Gibraltar-based marine biologist Eric Shaw argued that the orcas were displaying protective behaviors and were intentionally targeting the rudder with the understanding that it would immobilize the vessel, just as attacking the tail of a prey animal would immobilize it, a documented predation behavior.

Captive orca attacks

There have been many attacks on humans by captive orcas, with four fatalities; three by the same orca, Tilikum.

1960s

In 1968, a young female orca, Lupa, of the New York Aquarium chased her trainers out of the tank, snapping her jaws threateningly; trainers were cleaning the tank at the time.
In 1969, adult female orca Kianu pinned trainer William Allen to the side of her tank, and had to be pushed off him with a pole by an assistant; in another incident with the same trainer, Kianu threw Allen off her back and chased him out of the pool, her mouth open.
1970s
In 1970, Cuddles, a male orca kept in Flamingo Park in England, attacked his attendants twice, and became so generally aggressive that they were forced to clean his pool from the safety of a shark cage.
On April 20, 1971, SeaWorld secretary Annette Eckis was talked into riding the park's main attraction, a 10-year-old female orca named Shamu, at the park in San Diego, California, as a publicity stunt. As the ride was coming to an end, Eckis was suddenly thrown off the orca's back. The orca seized the woman by her leg and began pushing her through the water. Trainers on the side of the tank grabbed the young woman and attempted to pull her out of the pool, but the orca again grabbed her leg and refused to let go. Shamu's jaws had to be pried apart with a pole to free Eckis, who was carried away on a stretcher and required 25 stitches to close her wounds. Eckis later sued SeaWorld, but a monetary award was overturned on appeal.
In 1971, Cuddles, mentioned above, grabbed Dudley Zoo director Donald Robinson while being fed, dragging him to the bottom of the pool and causing head and leg injuries.
In 1971, trainer Chris Christiansen received 7 stitches in his cheek after young male orca Hugo closed his mouth on Christiansen's head.
In 1972, Cuddles at the Dudley Zoo hospitalized trainer Roy Lock with a broken nose after the orca put too much force into a trick in which he "kissed" his trainer.
During the summer of 1972, two trainers at Seven Seas Marine Life Park were bitten on the head by the park's orca Nootka. Larry Lawrence sustained minor injuries on his scalp, while Bob Peek sustained a more serious laceration over his eye.
In the early 1970s, a Marine World/Africa USA trainer, Jeff Pulaski, while riding a young female orca Kianu during a performance, was thrown off and chased out of the tank. At the same park, an unidentified trainer was seized by the young male Orky II and held at the bottom of the tank until the man nearly lost consciousness.
In the early 1970s, trainer Manny Velasco recalls both Hugo and Lolita of the Miami Seaquarium becoming aggressive, lunging and snapping at the trainers standing on the central work-island, ending the day's training.
In the early 1970s, during a waterwork session, orca Hugo refused to allow trainer Chip Kirk to get out of the water, Kirk explained to a journalist from the Palm Beach Post. Hugo bit him on the arm badly enough to leave a scar, which Kirk showed to the reporter. Hugo also grabbed trainer Bob Pulaski by the wetsuit and began thrashing him. Pulaski struggled, but it only made things worse. Hugo's tank-mate Lolita then joined in and began a tug-of-war with Hugo. Pulaski managed to free himself from the tangled wetsuit and get to safety. Pulaski did not mention if he sustained any injuries.
In the early 1970s, director of training at Sea-Arama Marineworld Ken Beggs claimed that one of the park's orcas, a young male named Mamuk, attempted to bite his torso.
In the early 1970s, young female orca Nootka became aggressive towards a visiting reporter at Seven Seas Marine Life Park, beaching herself in an attempt to lunge at him. She had to be returned to her pool with a crane. On another occasion, trainer Larry Lawrence was raked by Nootka, needing 145 stitches in his left leg.
On May 2, 1978, another Marineland of the Pacific trainer, 27-year-old Jill Stratton, was nearly drowned when 10-year-old Orky II suddenly grabbed her and dragged her to the bottom of the tank, holding her there for nearly four minutes.
On May 22, 1978, SeaWorld trainer Greg Williams was bitten on the legs by the park's orca Winston. He was hospitalized with minor injuries.
In the 1970s, a Marine World California trainer, Dave Worcester, was dragged to the bottom of the tank by the park's young male orca Nepo.
In the 1970s, a Vancouver Aquarium trainer, Doug Pemberton, recalls that, "Skana once showed her dislike by dragging a trainer around the pool. Her teeth sank into his wetsuit but missed his leg." Pemberton described both young female Skana and her male companion Hyak II as "moody" but stated that Skana was the dominant animal in the pool. "She is capable of changing moods in minutes".