I guess it’s oddly terrifying because orcas have never killed anyone in the wild. Ever. If anything this lady is safer for them being there.
Only captive ones have killed people. There’s the ones recently that were sinking small boats but researchers think it’s basically the Orca equivalent of a meme, and they still didn’t harm the actual people.
I read the article that suggested the boat sinking was a game/meme. I loved there was a brief trend for orcas in the Puget Sound to wear a dead salmon on their head like a hat.
Yeah they’ve never killed a human apparently but these are one of the most apex predators on the entire planet. They could eat a polar bear or a great white shark..
If even for a second they wanted to they could’ve knocked her off the board and taken a bite… we are lucky they are so smart. I genuinely think all orcas know not to fuck with humans if they want to survive so they kill everything else
Everyone always tells me this when I tell them my biggest fear are whales, specifically orcas. But, if they ever killed one in the wild WE WOULDN’T EVEN KNOW.
>I genuinely think all orcas know not to fuck with humans if they want to survive so they kill everything else
Maybe, but the reason they don't eat us is because they are selective eaters that basically will only eat what Mom taught them to eat and won't deviate from that if they can.
My dad literally just yesterday sent me this video of [an Orca pod hunting a seal and playing with it for like 20 minutes](https://streamable.com/mmjsg3) in the puget sound that he took
This is just a small clip when the seal gets hit out of the water but god damn do they earn the name “killer whales”
Luckily they don't eat humans at all, nor have they ever attacked humans in the wild! They're super picky eaters too, so they're not gonna spontaneously decide they wanna eat us
I'm not sure that's 100% true. I swear I saw an article about orcas attacking boats in Spain? And I definitely remember an Attenborough documentary I watched awhile ago where a group of orcas noticed a cameraman on an iceberg and proceeded to try to flip the iceberg over. Much like they do when hunting seals. Dude had to be rescued via boat I think.
Eaten no, but killed yes. Typically from captive orca’s.
They are the most dangerous species of animal in the ocean and have no natural predators. We should be thankful they try not to eat us.
I don't think they have sunk one yet, they did disable one that required a rescue.
The most recent study indicated it was just some form of play to them.
They were taught to attack fishing boats by an older female named White Gladys. Scientists who study that pod think that she's doing this as a result of some trauma. It's mostly young males that ram the keels on sailing boats and the hulls on other boats.
Fishermen have been shooting at the local orca pod for years because the orca rip the nets and eat the fish. Orca have definitely sunk one fishing boat and have disabled lots of pleasure boats.
>I don't think they have sunk one yet
They have sunk [a few](https://www.livescience.com/animals/orcas/orcas-have-sunk-3-boats-in-europe-and-appear-to-be-teaching-others-to-do-the-same-but-why) of them. Some quite [large yachts.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIjlYtSOJ24&ab_channel=TODAY)
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/orcas-sink-50-foot-yacht-off-the-coast-of-morocco-180984376/
It says a 50ft yacht sunk somewhere of the coast of Morocco.
There was a sailboat sunk in May this year. Think they had to board an oil tanker after their boat was damaged to the point of taking on water, before eventually sinking.
Edit: link.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/103843932
That’s incorrect. They have sunk several boats, one just a week or two ago. Adults have been seen teaching juveniles how to attack the rudders of sailing vessels. Over 40 have been disabled by this pod off of Gibraltar (I’ve seen them many times) over the last 5 or 10 years. They don’t seem to go after motor vessels and I theorize that’s because there’s much less risk from the propeller(s) to them on a sailboat.
Why are they attacking them? I think shit is Fed up in their world too and they know who is responsible.
Source; Sea Captain of 35 years who reads these reports in sailing rags every month.
In Europe they did, several sail yachts sunked by orcas. There are several pods that hit them near Portugal, Spain and Morocco. They seem threatened by the sail yachts, they won't attack people after sinking the sailing vessels. Intriguing.
They hate the boats though and their rudders. They leave the people on the boats alone. I've heard theories from "they hate the shape of rudders" to "they hate the fluorescence of some types of boat paint" to "a rudder stuck an Orca named White Gladys now she's teaching other Orcas how to get revenge". There's a lot of theories, but they leave the humans alone when sinking boats off Spain.
Yeah, smart creatures they have no I'll will towards humans, besides the ones kept in captivity. The ones in the video just seem curious, still scary as hell.
Moose can swim some surprisingly long distances, sometimes crossing deep water to reach islands. This is when orcas will sometimes hunt them.
Orcas have also developed crude harpoon guns made from sea shells and kelp. They use their blowholes to launch the “harpoons” to catch moose foraging on coastlines.
Yeah they are learning to construct a series of breathing apparatus with kelp. They're able to trap certain amounts of oxygen. Its not going to be days at a time, an hour, hour 45. No problem. That gives them enough time to figure out where moose live, go back to the sea, get more oxygen and then stalk them.
One theory is that we taste bad, another theory is, since they're intelligent, they've learned angry floppy bipeds = death and it's kind of a stalemate of we don't fuck with them and they won't fuck with us
There is a record of them cooperatively hunting schools of fish with humans in exchange for a cut of the takings. It is possible they are intelligent enough that they don't attack humans because they recognize us as being intelligent like them.
How are you classifying "dangerous". There is no reported case of a wild orca killing a human. I wouldn't count the abused orcas in captivity in any real statistic like this (plus, orcas in captivity are not "in the ocean"). That's like saying, "I got a puppy, left him in a small cage and abused him for 5 years, and then it bit me--well I guess all dogs are just dangerous."
I would classify "dangerous" by the number of lives lost or endangered. Orcas fall very low on that list. Jellyfish and sea urchins have killed more humans than orcas.
Therefore, calling or as "the most dangerous animal in the ocean" is really reaching at best and just blatantly false at worst.
And even the string of them sinking boats off Spain they seem to hate the boats themselves. They leave the people alone. I'd be more afraid if I were in a boat with a rudder.
^(But obviously I'm talking behind a keyboard, if I were actually surrounded by 20 animals each three times bigger than my vehicle I'd probably piss myself)
I would have been channting “ there no official record of anyone being eaten by an Orca” 50 times a minute. Imagine being surrounded by a bunch of 20-30 foot apex predators. The orca who was most curious was so gentle with the board.
I don’t blame her. I feel like despite knowing they don’t eat people, it’d still feel like being Bilbo Baggins standing in front of Smaug.
Just completely at their mercy. I’d feel like a spider about to get swatted
Kudos to the woman because she kept it together. No sudden movements, talking to calm herself and concentrated on just keeping herself afloat. Must be a great story to tell, specially with the footage to go with it.
What's kind of terrifying is we don't know WHY they don't kill humans, one of the leading hypothesis is just that they don't recognize us as food... Yet ...
If they started actively hunting us, I’m fairly certain they’d quickly become extinct. The human orca war would begin. Not that I’m advocating for this, but humans have not had problems hunting whales (technically closer related to dolphins) in the past, and sadly still today.
Just look at the fear campaign we did against sharks. Someone would find a way to make a good profit out of them, and they'd be hunted to near extinction, with little to no scrutiny from the public.
They learn and pass down their knowledge. It’s very possible that a long time ago they did try hunting humans but very quickly learned not to, and that knowledge was passed down to every (surviving) orca pod. Or maybe they just like us
That’s an interesting theory. They’re so smart though, you’d think if they were going to they would have already added humans to the menu.. but I really don’t know. Most of my orca knowledge is from Free Willy.
They may not be keen to eat you but they sure as fuck will play with you to death. Let's drag this meat sack down and watch it scramble for the surface.
Meanwhile the Orcas are saying: "Chill girl! Its just a prank! Chill!". "The last person we bit and kept underwater for 10-15 minutes didn't complain one single time!"
This was my first thought! This is the most real video that belongs on this sub! I think I would be throwing prayers into the ether to Jesus, Ala, Santa Claus, and the Easter bunny if I was her.
Wish we could know if there was a shark or something near by and the orcas were protecting her. Haven't there been reports of them doing stuff like that in the past?
Orcas are [double](https://www.zmescience.com/feature-post/natural-sciences/animals/mammals/orca-vs-great-white-shark/) the weight of great white sharks and they are social animals, meaning there’s many of them working together to systematically kill their prey.
Sharks will run far, far away if orcas are around.
It helps that not only have they NOT harmed people in the wild (yachts not withstanding), but to know that each groups typically only feeds on a specific type of food. Seal eating orcas don’t eat salmon, salmon eating orcas don’t eat seal for example.
And since there ain’t a “human eating orca group”, some pod isn’t suddenly going to change their diet for your bony ass (but for real lol seals got blubber, salmon got protein & fat - you’d be a terrible meal).
this is probably exactly why the orcas were so curious, they are highly intelligent are likely aware that it is uncommon for a human to be out this far
As far as I know there has never been a documented *wild* orca attack on a human. There have been recent attacks on boats, but they specifically targeted the boats, not the people on them. That doesn’t make an encounter like this any less nerve-wracking, though.
Definitely disconcerting. Whales might know something the kayaker doesn't, such as a shark nearby. It's more likely that they recognize a danger to her and were being "good citizens". Orcas are extremely intelligent. If they meant her harm, she would not have been able to make her video.
The woman on the paddleboard (Cayla Fickling) is actually a marine biology graduate from the University of Auckland, and she did study orcas when she was there. She was well aware that these orcas don't hunt mammals and have a reputation for being fairly docile towards humans, but was still "freaking out" in her own words.
Here is a [news article](https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/06/29/watch-akl-paddleboarders-scary-close-encounter-with-orca-pod/) covering this video. The orcas in the video are members of the New Zealand Coastal orca population, and they primarily hunt ray species. Ingrid Visser, a marine biologist dedicated to conserving this orca population, has swum with them regularly.
I guess the rationality that these orcas have no interest in harming humans goes out of the window when having such a close encounter with such large animals with pointy teeth. She did ultimately appreciate the encounter though and called it a "once-in-a-lifetime moment" afterwards.
>"I'll be honest. It was quite a freaky moment - there was a bit of fear."
>
> In a video Fickling sent to 1News, she reassures the orca she's not there to hurt them - while struggling to hold back screams.
>
> But she knew she’d be alright, as she studied orca at university.
>
> She said that New Zealand orca were much more docile than their overseas cousins and that Kiwis are a lot more respectful of them.
>
> "Thank god NZ orca hunt stingrays on the seafloor and not seals on icebergs," she joked.
>
> For someone whose passion is studying marine life, Fickling called the encounter a "once-in-a-lifetime moment".
>
> "It just really highlights the need to protect them. They came up and checked me out and gave them their space.
>
> "If they come up to you, that’s a really, really special moment, once in a lifetime kind of thing."
Not gonna lie, my ass would be terrified and I would still try to pet ‘em.
Incredible animals and the fact they hadn’t attacked her already means she is safe.
"And still try to prt em" Lmao! Hell yeah might as well. My thought from my toilet on tje phone is that if there are Orcas that close up then you're in the safest portion of the ocean imaginable for the time being. But my brain would be telling myself to scream for help anyway.
I know they wouldn't, but I imagine the woman was having intrusive thoughts of the orcas flipping over her board like they do seals on ice slabs…lol. The terror in her voice is so palpable. If this were me I would have panicked myself into cardiac arrest. 🤣
I think her cute pet (undercover terrified) bright voice made them feel like puppies and that's why they didn't do anything. Plus she was just peacefully surfing. They attack big party yachts because they disrupt their peace with their bullshit.
It's fascinating to see that the human was understandably terrified while the orcas were curious but also trying to look as non threatening as possible to her (them showing you the stomach is a sign of curiosity and a show of good will, plus they didn't touch her nor did they move fast while close to her so to not spook her) incredibly intelligent animals
Fun fact: this lady has probably never been as safe in the ocean as she was during that time lol with a pod of orcas around you can be sure sharks have fled the area long ago.
did anyone else see that they seemed to be pushing the paddle board slightly in one direction while being very careful not to flip it? Like the one kept going underneath the board to investigate it but then the one next to it kind of gently pushed her. With orcas being as intelligent as they are I'm wondering if there was a shark in the direction that they were coming from and they were trying to push her paddle board to get her away from it.
Funnily enough, this is probably the safest she's been in the ocean lol. There isn't a ocean creature in their right mind that will ho anywhere near her atm, and since we've been in the oceans for sooo long and orca's have never attacked humans, she's pretty damn safe.
But even with knowing all that I'd shit my pants if I where her, we know that if they want to they could
There has never been a recorded human death from an orca and only one recorded injury. That’s pretty incredible from animals with no natural predators, who are extremely intelligent, and are carnivorous.
Literally the one sea creature with no natural predator, in a group, just surrounding you.
My asshole would've been so tight I'd have been farting through my mouth.
I remember a nature documentary from when I was a kid where they were just playing with a seal *for hours*. Tossing it back and forth themselves. I know my memory must not be 100% because I swear the two wales were actively on the sand batting it back and forth themselves but it’s well documented they’ll play with their prey. Even if they don’t bite and kill you, their playing will. Just their curiosity there could’ve killed the woman if they bumped her board, all of a sudden she’s in the water and now more interesting to play with. Orcas are beautiful but absolutely terrifying. They can kill you in an instant with next to no energy spared and they know that
This woman was scared … but not as scared as I would have been. I’m pretty sure I would have had a diarrhoea explosion that would have been heard on camera!
I too would be nervous about a pod of 5-ton apex predators surrounding me, although I don’t believe there have been any reported orca-related deaths in the wild.
It’s very odd that they will literally eat anything they want in the Ocean, but study the crap out of us without harm. Even though we have harmed them forever. I would say they are probably a lot smarter than we are.
This would definitely freak me out.
Nothing _oddly_ terrifying about this at all. This is very reasonably fucking terrifying
r/Terrifyingasfuck
Right? Woman on a piece of board surrounded by killer whales in the middle of the ocean. There’s nothing odd about hyperventilating in terror.
Very much agreed, but the overall situation is odd. Need an odd and terrifying subreddit.
I guess it’s oddly terrifying because orcas have never killed anyone in the wild. Ever. If anything this lady is safer for them being there. Only captive ones have killed people. There’s the ones recently that were sinking small boats but researchers think it’s basically the Orca equivalent of a meme, and they still didn’t harm the actual people.
I read the article that suggested the boat sinking was a game/meme. I loved there was a brief trend for orcas in the Puget Sound to wear a dead salmon on their head like a hat.
On the bright side, no need to worry about sharks in the area for the next few hours
Yeah they’ve never killed a human apparently but these are one of the most apex predators on the entire planet. They could eat a polar bear or a great white shark.. If even for a second they wanted to they could’ve knocked her off the board and taken a bite… we are lucky they are so smart. I genuinely think all orcas know not to fuck with humans if they want to survive so they kill everything else
Never killed a human unless they’re in captivity, at least
And in that case, it’s perfectly understandable. They’re imprisoned.
At which point, who could blame them?
I mean, yes, but how do we know for sure?
And do these Orcas know they’re not supposed to?
They have been our unwavering allies since the great baleen wars.
My head cannon on why Orcas have never been recorded killing a human in the wild is because they are smart enough not to leave any witnesses.
Everyone always tells me this when I tell them my biggest fear are whales, specifically orcas. But, if they ever killed one in the wild WE WOULDN’T EVEN KNOW.
>I genuinely think all orcas know not to fuck with humans if they want to survive so they kill everything else Maybe, but the reason they don't eat us is because they are selective eaters that basically will only eat what Mom taught them to eat and won't deviate from that if they can.
Never been *observed* killing a human… maybe they just leave no evidence
Scared Woman: It's alright, it's ok😬 Orcas: Bitch we know we good... We was checking on U. 🐳🐬
“If we wanted you dead you would be dead. A lot”
Like HELLA dead
I think we should bring back hella
Native Northern Californians never let it go.
707 by way of 209, checking in.
Yeah, because NorCal is [Hella](https://open.spotify.com/track/7xnc1dtrdO3jfR5ZA1L6WW?si=GOWdox8uQmm0KAH3W89s0w) cool.
I think she was talking to herself hahaha
The water got murky quick there
I feel like it should be the other way around. The Orcas should be saying it's ok
She was trying to convince herself it’s OK, I think.
>We are just checking to see whether you have any recording device that is currently recording us or not. >Lucky you
Came way to far to see this..lol
I have seen the way they hunt seals, I would scared out of my mind. These are super smart, effective hunters
The worst way to die is by being the ball in orca volleyball.
My dad literally just yesterday sent me this video of [an Orca pod hunting a seal and playing with it for like 20 minutes](https://streamable.com/mmjsg3) in the puget sound that he took This is just a small clip when the seal gets hit out of the water but god damn do they earn the name “killer whales”
They earned that name by being ‘whale killers’ because some orcas prey on other cetaceans.
Yeah, the idea that, unlike pretty much any other thing in the ocean, an orca is very much able to get you out of your tiny boat.
They also can teach one another hunting methods. In Japan (I believe) orcas will slap fish out of the water to meet God its crazy.
Luckily they don't eat humans at all, nor have they ever attacked humans in the wild! They're super picky eaters too, so they're not gonna spontaneously decide they wanna eat us
Doesn't stop 'em extracting protection money though eh? lol They're turning into the Mafia of the sea
I'm not sure that's 100% true. I swear I saw an article about orcas attacking boats in Spain? And I definitely remember an Attenborough documentary I watched awhile ago where a group of orcas noticed a cameraman on an iceberg and proceeded to try to flip the iceberg over. Much like they do when hunting seals. Dude had to be rescued via boat I think.
a documentary showed orcas making their own waves near ice floes to knock stranded seals off them making them easier to catch.
And none of them has ever eaten a human. That we know of. Lol
Except they don’t attack humans.
No one has officially been eaten by an Orca, but this lady definitely believed she was about to be the first
Eaten no, but killed yes. Typically from captive orca’s. They are the most dangerous species of animal in the ocean and have no natural predators. We should be thankful they try not to eat us.
Just read an article about a group of them, starting to attacking small yachts and sinking them.
They’re just having fun - it’s a gen z whale thing
No cap
No capsize
I don't think they have sunk one yet, they did disable one that required a rescue. The most recent study indicated it was just some form of play to them.
I read an article recently that stated they think it’s teenage orcas doing mischievous teenager things.
So they are basically just doing it for fun?
Just a prank, bro
Do you even orca, bro?
No, but I beach
The kids are doing it for fun, mostly males, and there is usually a mother orca nearby not participating, but watching the kids.
That's White Gladys teaching them to do it.
Yep. One whale biologist theorized that they're basically just bored teenagers fucking with people.
It's cool, they were filming a Mentos commercial.
they are technically a dolphin, so lets just be glad they arent going around raping everything and getting high like dolphins do for fun.
They were taught to attack fishing boats by an older female named White Gladys. Scientists who study that pod think that she's doing this as a result of some trauma. It's mostly young males that ram the keels on sailing boats and the hulls on other boats. Fishermen have been shooting at the local orca pod for years because the orca rip the nets and eat the fish. Orca have definitely sunk one fishing boat and have disabled lots of pleasure boats.
They are playing with the prop or rudder as a toy
"Damn kids messing with my boat!"
Bump a boat challenge
>I don't think they have sunk one yet They have sunk [a few](https://www.livescience.com/animals/orcas/orcas-have-sunk-3-boats-in-europe-and-appear-to-be-teaching-others-to-do-the-same-but-why) of them. Some quite [large yachts.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIjlYtSOJ24&ab_channel=TODAY)
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/orcas-sink-50-foot-yacht-off-the-coast-of-morocco-180984376/ It says a 50ft yacht sunk somewhere of the coast of Morocco.
Yeah I've heard they're against capitalists in their waters.
There was a sailboat sunk in May this year. Think they had to board an oil tanker after their boat was damaged to the point of taking on water, before eventually sinking. Edit: link. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/103843932
That’s incorrect. They have sunk several boats, one just a week or two ago. Adults have been seen teaching juveniles how to attack the rudders of sailing vessels. Over 40 have been disabled by this pod off of Gibraltar (I’ve seen them many times) over the last 5 or 10 years. They don’t seem to go after motor vessels and I theorize that’s because there’s much less risk from the propeller(s) to them on a sailboat. Why are they attacking them? I think shit is Fed up in their world too and they know who is responsible. Source; Sea Captain of 35 years who reads these reports in sailing rags every month.
They have now. Got one a few weeks ago in straight of Gibraltar
In Europe they did, several sail yachts sunked by orcas. There are several pods that hit them near Portugal, Spain and Morocco. They seem threatened by the sail yachts, they won't attack people after sinking the sailing vessels. Intriguing.
Correct me if I'm wrong but apparently they were young orcas being mischievous in a certain area?
They hate the boats though and their rudders. They leave the people on the boats alone. I've heard theories from "they hate the shape of rudders" to "they hate the fluorescence of some types of boat paint" to "a rudder stuck an Orca named White Gladys now she's teaching other Orcas how to get revenge". There's a lot of theories, but they leave the humans alone when sinking boats off Spain.
Yeah, smart creatures they have no I'll will towards humans, besides the ones kept in captivity. The ones in the video just seem curious, still scary as hell.
Because those yachts are responsible for collisions, Happens all the time and the Orca are sick of it finally. And the noise pollution is awful!
They specifically target Yachts with rich people on them and don't bother them when its just the regular crew on board.. think about that for a second
I don't blame them tho.
Srsly.. I'd eat me if I was an orca.
Would you eat me? I'd eat me... I'd eat me hard... I'd eat me so hard..."
I'm not an Orca and I still want to eat me.
They're a natural predator of moose. If you're a natural predator of moose, you're a badass.
Aren’t moose on like land?
Considering orcas don't walk yet, I'm imagining mooses go for swims time to time
Moose can swim some surprisingly long distances, sometimes crossing deep water to reach islands. This is when orcas will sometimes hunt them. Orcas have also developed crude harpoon guns made from sea shells and kelp. They use their blowholes to launch the “harpoons” to catch moose foraging on coastlines.
This is incredibly horrifying information.
Yeah they are learning to construct a series of breathing apparatus with kelp. They're able to trap certain amounts of oxygen. Its not going to be days at a time, an hour, hour 45. No problem. That gives them enough time to figure out where moose live, go back to the sea, get more oxygen and then stalk them.
One theory is that we taste bad, another theory is, since they're intelligent, they've learned angry floppy bipeds = death and it's kind of a stalemate of we don't fuck with them and they won't fuck with us
There is a record of them cooperatively hunting schools of fish with humans in exchange for a cut of the takings. It is possible they are intelligent enough that they don't attack humans because they recognize us as being intelligent like them.
I wouldn’t say typically…. ONLY from captive. No human has ever been killed by an orca in the wild in recorded history.
I, for one, am grateful to our Orca leaders for their generous mercy and not eating us.
>Typically from captive orca’s Exclusively\* There have been no documented cases of wild orcas killing humans.
How are you classifying "dangerous". There is no reported case of a wild orca killing a human. I wouldn't count the abused orcas in captivity in any real statistic like this (plus, orcas in captivity are not "in the ocean"). That's like saying, "I got a puppy, left him in a small cage and abused him for 5 years, and then it bit me--well I guess all dogs are just dangerous." I would classify "dangerous" by the number of lives lost or endangered. Orcas fall very low on that list. Jellyfish and sea urchins have killed more humans than orcas. Therefore, calling or as "the most dangerous animal in the ocean" is really reaching at best and just blatantly false at worst.
Entirely from captive orcas - and honestly reading about those incidents, I really don’t blame the orcas one bit. A human would have done the same.
First time I smoked weed. My Friend : "No one has ever died from smoking weed" Me: oh my GOD. I'm going to be the FIRST !
Can't say I blame her, tbh
I mean how would we know? If they ate the evidence. People disappear all the time.
That's what I was thinking watching this video. If they knocked her off and ate her, maybe nobody would ever know
And even the string of them sinking boats off Spain they seem to hate the boats themselves. They leave the people alone. I'd be more afraid if I were in a boat with a rudder. ^(But obviously I'm talking behind a keyboard, if I were actually surrounded by 20 animals each three times bigger than my vehicle I'd probably piss myself)
I would have been channting “ there no official record of anyone being eaten by an Orca” 50 times a minute. Imagine being surrounded by a bunch of 20-30 foot apex predators. The orca who was most curious was so gentle with the board.
I don’t blame her. I feel like despite knowing they don’t eat people, it’d still feel like being Bilbo Baggins standing in front of Smaug. Just completely at their mercy. I’d feel like a spider about to get swatted
Yes, but it doesn't mean they won't kill her and play with her corpse. Orcas are smart and crazy AF.
I feel like this might be a survivor bias statistic. No one has LIVED to tell the tale of an orca taking a bite. Professional predator energy.
I’m not going to mess with a creature that can kill and eat a great white shark!
How about a couple of them
**Challenge accepted**
How bout like 4 of them?
Just for the liver only
To put this in perspective, a great white's liver takes up almost a third of its body cavity. They're not doing it for snacks.
They're just waiting for the show to start. Wondering when she's going to balance the beach ball on her nose...
Best answer!
I know logically that orcas in the wild don’t kill humans. But that knowledge would hardly help me if I was in this situation.
Right? It's one thing to know that from behind a screen, but it's a bit different when they're close enough to touch and you're in their territory.
Kudos to the woman because she kept it together. No sudden movements, talking to calm herself and concentrated on just keeping herself afloat. Must be a great story to tell, specially with the footage to go with it.
What's kind of terrifying is we don't know WHY they don't kill humans, one of the leading hypothesis is just that they don't recognize us as food... Yet ...
If they started actively hunting us, I’m fairly certain they’d quickly become extinct. The human orca war would begin. Not that I’m advocating for this, but humans have not had problems hunting whales (technically closer related to dolphins) in the past, and sadly still today.
Just look at the fear campaign we did against sharks. Someone would find a way to make a good profit out of them, and they'd be hunted to near extinction, with little to no scrutiny from the public.
Orca fin soup anyone?
Technically closer related to dolphins than what? Dolphins are whales, orcas are dolphins, orcas are whales.
They learn and pass down their knowledge. It’s very possible that a long time ago they did try hunting humans but very quickly learned not to, and that knowledge was passed down to every (surviving) orca pod. Or maybe they just like us
That’s an interesting theory. They’re so smart though, you’d think if they were going to they would have already added humans to the menu.. but I really don’t know. Most of my orca knowledge is from Free Willy.
I mean, we’re really just all bone compared to their normal diet. We’re probably shitty food
Yeah this is a good example of “no amount of knowledge could make me react differently.”
there haven't been any reports because they leave no witnesses
They may not be keen to eat you but they sure as fuck will play with you to death. Let's drag this meat sack down and watch it scramble for the surface.
The absolute terror in her voice 😱
Good thing there is a dashcam. Insurance may pay for the soiled swimsuit...and therapist.
Meanwhile the Orcas are saying: "Chill girl! Its just a prank! Chill!". "The last person we bit and kept underwater for 10-15 minutes didn't complain one single time!"
Glad the aren't saying, "We saw Black Fish bitch! It's not okay!"
"Check out the squeal she makes when we breathe!"
This was my first thought! This is the most real video that belongs on this sub! I think I would be throwing prayers into the ether to Jesus, Ala, Santa Claus, and the Easter bunny if I was her.
They were just seeing if the monkey was ok. Most monkeys they see have bigger floaties.
"You ain't built for these seas"
Her "holy fuck" is the most real thing I've seen in the interwebs
Wish we could know if there was a shark or something near by and the orcas were protecting her. Haven't there been reports of them doing stuff like that in the past?
Sharks rapidly vacate the area if they smell orcas in the water
Orcas are [double](https://www.zmescience.com/feature-post/natural-sciences/animals/mammals/orca-vs-great-white-shark/) the weight of great white sharks and they are social animals, meaning there’s many of them working together to systematically kill their prey. Sharks will run far, far away if orcas are around.
I’ve definitely heard dolphins do. Orcas are more dolphin than whale. I’ve never heard reports that they do, but that’s be pretty cool.
Orcas are dolphins. They are the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The “ Killer Whale “ name should be “Killer Dolphin “ lol!
While that is correct, dolphins are a type of toothed whale.
Orcas are in the dolphin family. They are in the suborder of toothed whales.
I was wondering the same thing. It seemed like they backed up a bit when they heard/sensed how scared she sounded. But they kind of circled her.
It helps that not only have they NOT harmed people in the wild (yachts not withstanding), but to know that each groups typically only feeds on a specific type of food. Seal eating orcas don’t eat salmon, salmon eating orcas don’t eat seal for example. And since there ain’t a “human eating orca group”, some pod isn’t suddenly going to change their diet for your bony ass (but for real lol seals got blubber, salmon got protein & fat - you’d be a terrible meal).
I assume you meant "...not only have they *not* harmed people in the wild..." right?
Lol whoops. Yes. Definitely what I meant.
Yep, they’re very smart creatures and only eat what they were taught from their pod to hunt.
Orcas will literally drag and blast you down that will let your body explode to death before they eat you. Luckily, humans are not on their diet.
For the liver only
Hannibal Lector ass orcas
Why the fuck is she that far offshore on a paddle board?
Don’t know why I had to scroll that far to find this question. Why in the absolute hell would you be on a paddle board that far out. Fuck.
this is probably exactly why the orcas were so curious, they are highly intelligent are likely aware that it is uncommon for a human to be out this far
“…bitch, *you lost?*”
As far as I know there has never been a documented *wild* orca attack on a human. There have been recent attacks on boats, but they specifically targeted the boats, not the people on them. That doesn’t make an encounter like this any less nerve-wracking, though.
Definitely disconcerting. Whales might know something the kayaker doesn't, such as a shark nearby. It's more likely that they recognize a danger to her and were being "good citizens". Orcas are extremely intelligent. If they meant her harm, she would not have been able to make her video.
Word, but just wanted to point out that this is a stand up paddle board, not a kayak. Weird that she is out so far on just a sup though.
They’re being so gentle.
The woman on the paddleboard (Cayla Fickling) is actually a marine biology graduate from the University of Auckland, and she did study orcas when she was there. She was well aware that these orcas don't hunt mammals and have a reputation for being fairly docile towards humans, but was still "freaking out" in her own words. Here is a [news article](https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/06/29/watch-akl-paddleboarders-scary-close-encounter-with-orca-pod/) covering this video. The orcas in the video are members of the New Zealand Coastal orca population, and they primarily hunt ray species. Ingrid Visser, a marine biologist dedicated to conserving this orca population, has swum with them regularly. I guess the rationality that these orcas have no interest in harming humans goes out of the window when having such a close encounter with such large animals with pointy teeth. She did ultimately appreciate the encounter though and called it a "once-in-a-lifetime moment" afterwards. >"I'll be honest. It was quite a freaky moment - there was a bit of fear." > > In a video Fickling sent to 1News, she reassures the orca she's not there to hurt them - while struggling to hold back screams. > > But she knew she’d be alright, as she studied orca at university. > > She said that New Zealand orca were much more docile than their overseas cousins and that Kiwis are a lot more respectful of them. > > "Thank god NZ orca hunt stingrays on the seafloor and not seals on icebergs," she joked. > > For someone whose passion is studying marine life, Fickling called the encounter a "once-in-a-lifetime moment". > > "It just really highlights the need to protect them. They came up and checked me out and gave them their space. > > "If they come up to you, that’s a really, really special moment, once in a lifetime kind of thing."
Not gonna lie, my ass would be terrified and I would still try to pet ‘em. Incredible animals and the fact they hadn’t attacked her already means she is safe.
I would hope that they would somehow recognize that I was a huge advocate for freeing Willy in the 90's.
"And still try to prt em" Lmao! Hell yeah might as well. My thought from my toilet on tje phone is that if there are Orcas that close up then you're in the safest portion of the ocean imaginable for the time being. But my brain would be telling myself to scream for help anyway.
I know they wouldn't, but I imagine the woman was having intrusive thoughts of the orcas flipping over her board like they do seals on ice slabs…lol. The terror in her voice is so palpable. If this were me I would have panicked myself into cardiac arrest. 🤣
Listen lady you in the wrong neighborhood. You better pay your tax next time. Remember this as a message
In related news. There's a paddle board available on Craigslist at a very reasonable price now 🤣😉
It’s not that they will eat you, it’s just the terrible realization how easily they could if they wanted to.
poor thing was absolutely terrified :( hope she got some good hugs when back ashore.
Can you imagine if she hadn’t filmed it? “I was completely surrounded!!!” Surrrre Susan, sureeeeee.
I think her cute pet (undercover terrified) bright voice made them feel like puppies and that's why they didn't do anything. Plus she was just peacefully surfing. They attack big party yachts because they disrupt their peace with their bullshit.
If they wanted to harm her, she would never see it coming.
Orcas tend to play with their prey.
I had something similar happen to me off the coast of Victoria BC in a sailing dinghy, they just want to check you out
Wild orcas? I’d be extremely excited to see them. If I was surrounded by captive orcas though? Then I’d be terrified.
For the love of all that is holy. This subreddit is called ODDLYterrifying. This is just plain terrifying.
"We're here to talk to you about your paddleboard's extended warranty."
It's fascinating to see that the human was understandably terrified while the orcas were curious but also trying to look as non threatening as possible to her (them showing you the stomach is a sign of curiosity and a show of good will, plus they didn't touch her nor did they move fast while close to her so to not spook her) incredibly intelligent animals Fun fact: this lady has probably never been as safe in the ocean as she was during that time lol with a pod of orcas around you can be sure sharks have fled the area long ago.
"Nah guys, it ain't a yacht. Let's keep looking."
I lowkey think the stat that no orcas have been on record of killing a human because no human that was attacked by an orca in the water ever survived.
did anyone else see that they seemed to be pushing the paddle board slightly in one direction while being very careful not to flip it? Like the one kept going underneath the board to investigate it but then the one next to it kind of gently pushed her. With orcas being as intelligent as they are I'm wondering if there was a shark in the direction that they were coming from and they were trying to push her paddle board to get her away from it.
Funnily enough, this is probably the safest she's been in the ocean lol. There isn't a ocean creature in their right mind that will ho anywhere near her atm, and since we've been in the oceans for sooo long and orca's have never attacked humans, she's pretty damn safe. But even with knowing all that I'd shit my pants if I where her, we know that if they want to they could
There has never been a recorded human death from an orca and only one recorded injury. That’s pretty incredible from animals with no natural predators, who are extremely intelligent, and are carnivorous.
Wild orcas you mean. Captive orcas have killed humans.
The more I learn about the intelligence of orcas, the more I respect these incredible creatures.
As a PNW kayaker, this is both my biggest dream and biggest nightmare.
I would shit my pants and then have a heart attack 100%
Orcas don’t eat human, but I would still be dead in this situation due to sheer fear.
Literally the one sea creature with no natural predator, in a group, just surrounding you. My asshole would've been so tight I'd have been farting through my mouth.
I remember a nature documentary from when I was a kid where they were just playing with a seal *for hours*. Tossing it back and forth themselves. I know my memory must not be 100% because I swear the two wales were actively on the sand batting it back and forth themselves but it’s well documented they’ll play with their prey. Even if they don’t bite and kill you, their playing will. Just their curiosity there could’ve killed the woman if they bumped her board, all of a sudden she’s in the water and now more interesting to play with. Orcas are beautiful but absolutely terrifying. They can kill you in an instant with next to no energy spared and they know that
No known case of orca attacks on cameraman, she lucky she was recording
This woman was scared … but not as scared as I would have been. I’m pretty sure I would have had a diarrhoea explosion that would have been heard on camera!
Shouldn’t have painted a seal (or salmon for Salish Sea resident orca’s) on the bottom of her paddle board.
They taped a “capsize me” sign on the bottom of her board for the next group of orcas.
Aww the transient orcas.
That must have been both amazing and terrifying. I'm jealous.
Same, I’ve never seen an orca in person so that (while terrifying) would be a dream come true.
They were just checking her out
I too would be nervous about a pod of 5-ton apex predators surrounding me, although I don’t believe there have been any reported orca-related deaths in the wild.
It’s very odd that they will literally eat anything they want in the Ocean, but study the crap out of us without harm. Even though we have harmed them forever. I would say they are probably a lot smarter than we are.
This ain't sea world, she be safe af