# Hypothesis: cetaceans see humans as deities **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 18, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothesis-cetaceans-see-humans-as-deities/728127 "2015-08-18T00:13:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothesis-cetaceans-see-humans-as-deities/728127/41 "2015-08-19T20:44:20Z")
That’s repeated on the web but polar bear scientists call it a myth. [http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/about-polar-bears/essentials/myths-and-misconceptions](http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/about-polar-bears/essentials/myths-and-misconceptions) Orca whale predation. Scientist Ian Stirling concedes that an orca might have an opportunity to attack a bear stranded on a remnant of ice or while swimming in open water, but it’s extremely unlikely. To date, there are no reported or documented cases of such predation or attempts. However, as Arctic sea ice continues to recede, reports of orcas using waters in the Far North are growing, suggesting a range expansion is in progress for some regions like Hudson Bay. ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothesis-cetaceans-see-humans-as-deities/728127/42 "2015-08-20T18:43:08Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > That’s repeated on the web but polar bear scientists call it a myth. > > [http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/about-polar-bears/essentials/myths-and-misconceptions](http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/about-polar-bears/essentials/myths-and-misconceptions) > > Orca whale predation. Scientist Ian Stirling concedes that an orca might have an opportunity to attack a bear stranded on a remnant of ice or while swimming in open water, but it’s extremely unlikely. To date, there are no reported or documented cases of such predation or attempts. However, as Arctic sea ice continues to recede, reports of orcas using waters in the Far North are growing, suggesting a range expansion is in progress for some regions like Hudson Bay. Well, yes, but… absence of proof is not proof of absence. I don’t think humans spend very much time watching orcas. I especially don’t think humans spend much time watching orcas in areas where orcas and polar bears co-exist. People freaked out a couple years ago when footage became available of orcas killing great whites, like orcas just “learned” it in 2012; I think they’ve been doing it for thousands of years, we just hadn’t seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothesis-cetaceans-see-humans-as-deities/728127/43 "2015-08-21T16:51:49Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Those aren’t the only possibilities - we may _lack_ the smell or flavour they desire - or we might fail to qualify as food in some other way (sonar profile or something) That’s what I’m thinking. A young kid would be too bony to eat. Echo-location would show that, I’d imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothesis-cetaceans-see-humans-as-deities/728127/44 "2015-08-21T20:57:26Z")
> **[MarineBio Search ~ MarineBio Conservation Society](https://www.marinebio.org/search/?id=84)** > > MarineBio Search I’ve read that a moose was found in an orca’s stomach. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothesis-cetaceans-see-humans-as-deities/728127/45 "2015-08-21T21:51:50Z")
Not sure why we’d need to equate deity with “I ain’t eating _that_!” Seems to me we no longer accepted hunting and killing cetaceans when we started to understand their intelligence might be on par with our own, or at least on par with primates. I think there’s no need to impose anything resembling religion on it. If something has the capacity to understand mortality, and to possibly experience mortal terror, it’s suddenly less appetizing. We watch cetaceans and mark intricate and familiar behaviors that we think to be akin to our own. That’s too close to home, too much like murder. Why should they need a more complex mechanism than that–than to recognize and respect sentience–to develop a higher level of respect? Sure, we can be dangerous, and it’s not crazy to believe we have a place in some kind of oral tradition as unpredictable but, nevertheless, really damned clever land-dwellers. But the vast majority of encounters they have with humans are congenial and playful. Some humans behave badly to ALL life forms, there are sure to be cetaceans of the same sort. But mostly can’t it just be the case where we mutually recognize sentience, maybe wish meaningful communication were easier, but since it isn’t let’s have a frolic and go our separate ways? No worship, just respect. ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothesis-cetaceans-see-humans-as-deities/728127/46 "2015-08-22T07:07:24Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Not sure why we’d need to equate deity with “I ain’t eating _that_!” Because orcas don’t chew their food, so I don’t think “flavor” or “taste” are important. > [@](#): > > Seems to me we no longer accepted hunting and killing cetaceans when we started to understand their intelligence might be on par with our own, or at least on par with primates. I think there’s no need to impose anything resembling religion on it. If something has the capacity to understand mortality, and to possibly experience mortal terror, it’s suddenly less appetizing. “We” hunt and kill (and eat) cetaceans in many places in the world. But as far as understanding mortal terror, have you ever seen the orcas hunt baby seals on ice floes? Those orcas don’t lose their appetites when the cute baby seals are scampering for dear life. I don’t know why human fear would put them off. > [@](#): > > Sure, we can be dangerous, and it’s not crazy to believe we have a place in some kind of oral tradition as unpredictable but, nevertheless, really damned clever land-dwellers. But the vast majority of encounters they have with humans are congenial and playful. Some humans behave badly to ALL life forms, there are sure to be cetaceans of the same sort. Except there aren’t. There aren’t cetaceans who have ever been documented behaving badly to humans in the wild. No human ever loses an occasional ear to a “mean” dolphin or a leg to a “mean” orca. (There was one surfer bitten by an orca, and two dolphin rammings-one fatal, but nothing close to what one would expect with the millions of humans who go into the ocean each day.) > [@](#): > > But mostly can’t it just be the case where we mutually recognize sentience, maybe wish meaningful communication were easier, but since it isn’t let’s have a frolic and go our separate ways? No worship, just respect. I don’t think this part of your post contradicts the OP. Cetaceans recognize sentience in millions of the animals they prey on each day; hell some cetaceans are cannibalistic! But humans are special, for whatever reason. You’re calling it “respect.” For the purposes of this discussion, I’m not sure that’s different from “worship.” When orcas will eat EACH OTHER and not harm a SINGLE HUMAN, that seems to elevate “respect” for human life to a plane pretty damn close to “worship.” ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothesis-cetaceans-see-humans-as-deities/728127/47 "2015-08-22T12:11:44Z")
Or it just means humans are more savage–we’re the orc of the sentient species on the planet. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothesis-cetaceans-see-humans-as-deities/728127.md?page=2)