# Why don't Killer Whales kill people? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2008, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029 "2008-02-10T12:20:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ed241](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de053/32.png) [@ed241](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ed241)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/1 "2008-02-10T12:20:19Z")
They kill and eat fish, seals and even whales…why not people? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/2 "2008-02-10T13:30:25Z")
Rudyard Kipling described it, in the _Just So Stories_: [How the whale got his throat](http://www.readprint.com/work-947/Rudyard-Kipling) [sub]Sorry, I couldn’t resist.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/3 "2008-02-10T13:39:00Z")
Mostly lack of opportunity. There are a few [incidents](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orca_attacks_on_humans) on record. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/4 "2008-02-10T13:41:24Z")
Because they would rather jump through hoops and balance balls on their nose? ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/5 "2008-02-10T13:48:08Z")
[QUOTE=ed241] They kill and eat fish, seals and even whales… [/QUOTE] In aggregate they do, but individuals and groups are food specialists. Those that eat fish don’t prey on marine mammals, for example. Specializing in humans would not have been a profitable adaption. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/6 "2008-02-10T17:44:13Z")
[Obligatory Wikipedia:Orca link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orca). Please don’t call them “killer whales.” ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/7 "2008-02-10T19:50:55Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] Please don’t call them “killer whales.” [/QUOTE] Your link seems to feel this is okay: [Quote=Wiki] The name “killer whale” is widely used in common English. However, since the 1960s, “Orca” has steadily grown in popularity as the common name to identify the species, and both names are now used. [/Quote] ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/8 "2008-02-10T20:16:20Z")
The same reason they don’t eat floating logs. Most animals are adapted by evolution to eat certain forms of prey and ignore everything else as a waste of effort. Humans have never been a prominent enough form of prey in the water for any marine carnivore to evolve to putting us on the menu. I’ve read that most attacks in the ocean against humans happen because the person does something that confuses a shark, barracuda, or orca into thinking the person is something like a seal or tuna. ---
**Author:** ![hotcoldhot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58f4c7/32.png) [@hotcoldhot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotcoldhot)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/9 "2008-02-10T20:23:25Z")
Apparently there are two types of Orca, those that eat fish, and those that eat mammals. I saw on Discovery they even make two types of noise. The seals aren’t afraid of the orca that make a certain noise, but if they play the call of mammal eating orcas the seal take cover. It’s interesting in areas where seals have declined orca now eat sea otters, really reducing their population, which seems to indicate that given an adequate supply of their normal food, seals, they won’t touch sea otters. That kind of relates to the original questions, why bother with humans when their regular food, seals are abundant. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/10 "2008-02-10T20:35:15Z")
And penguins. [They eat penguins](http://pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF060-Penguin_Enemy.gif). ---
**Author:** ![adirondack\_mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@adirondack\_mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adirondack_mike)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/11 "2008-02-10T21:26:15Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] Please don’t call them “killer whales.” [/QUOTE] I just had a bar discussion about this the other night. We came to the conclusion that they should be called “voluntary homicide whales.” In Seward, AK, I have heard rumors, hearsay or innuendo, that missing kayakers may have been attacked by killer whales. Apparently there have been reports about kayakers being approached by Orcas and the kayaks being bumped. The stories are all FOAF. Besides, the places where these animals live (pacific northwest and alaska) are just too cold for humans to be swimming in. Native stories from the frozen north have people being eaten by whales, but then again the stories also have people being eaten by - eagles, ravens, dog headed people, people, bears, ice bears, walruses, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/12 "2008-02-10T21:37:10Z")
Apparently Orcas will supplement their diet by eating land mammals like deer, moose and even polar bears. I’d guess that you’re normal size healthy human being has relatively little fat content and as such wouldn’t make great Orca food. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/13 "2008-02-10T21:56:36Z")
[QUOTE=Xema] Your link seems to feel this is okay: [/QUOTE] While lots of people still call them killer whales, my point is that they shouldn’t be called that, for two reasons: They aren’t whales, and They don’t kill humans. On a site devoted to the Straight Dope, I’d think that sort of myth perpetuating name would be anathema. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/14 "2008-02-10T22:20:21Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] They aren’t whales, and They don’t kill humans. [/QUOTE] Well, they are cetaceans, and thus closely related to whales. Since we put up with such things as polar bears far from any pole, grizzly bears that are seldom grizzled and black bears that are rarely black, this seems like something that can be tolerated. As for the “killer” part, it’s news to me that this necessarily implies “killer of humans” though I can easily believe some take it that way. Note that _Orcinus orca_ isn’t necessarily an improvement. Wiki says: > [@](#): > > the genus name “Orcinus” means “from Hell” (see Orcus), and although the name “Orca” (in use since antiquity) is probably not etymologically related, the assonance might have given some people the idea that it meant “whale that brings death,” or “demon from hell.” The name is also similar to “Orcus” the Roman god of the underworld. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/15 "2008-02-11T04:17:05Z")
Other posters have noted that Orcas/Killer Whales do kill on occasion, usually people who interact with them in captivity. **hotcoldhot** mentioned resident and offshore pods of Orcas, so just to add to that: > [@](#): > > Three distinctive sub-groups of orcas have been described, residents, transients, and offshores. > Residents live in pods of between 5-50 individuals consisting of two or three older females > and their descendants (children, grandchildren, etc.), living together throughout their lives. > This is called a matriarchal society. Residents move in more predictable areas than transients, > primarily eat fish, and tend to be more vocal. Transients live in smaller pods consisting of one > to seven individuals, travel longer and in unpredictable patterns, and primarily eat marine > mammals. By hunting in groups, transient orcas are able to hunt animals much bigger than > themselves and have been known to kill blue whales. They also eat shark, otters, sea lions, > penguins, birds, and dolphins. Transients are also distinct from residents because their dorsal > fins are more pointed and they are less vocal. Offshores, as the name suggests, are pelagic and > as a result are rarely observed. They are known to live in large pods of over 70 and feed > primarily on fish and squid. From a PDF [here](http://cordellbank.noaa.gov/documents/wildlife/orca.pdf), on a NOAA site, but written by The Marine Mammal Center’s education department. On why the Orcas are called “Killer Whales” and whether they kill people in the wild: > [@](#): > > People often wonder why orcas are also called killer whales. Mariners and whalers observed transient orcas eating other whales. Thus they were named “whale killer.” The name has since been reversed to “killer whale.” There are no confirmed records of orcas ever killing a person in the wild. Same source as above - and the source is dated as of 2002, so I think it’s likely still true ;). ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/16 "2008-02-11T17:12:26Z")
_On why the Orcas are called “Killer Whales” and whether they kill people in the wild:_ They kill their preys, in opposition to the krill-eating whales. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/17 "2008-02-11T17:19:20Z")
[QUOTE=ed241] They kill and eat fish, seals and even whales…why not people? [/QUOTE] [They do](http://www.b3tards.com/u/488db8f83c2de2ff324c/whalepiano.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/18 "2008-02-11T19:44:11Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] The same reason they don’t eat floating logs. Most animals are adapted by evolution to eat certain forms of prey and ignore everything else as a waste of effort. Humans have never been a prominent enough form of prey in the water for any marine carnivore to evolve to putting us on the menu. [/QUOTE] I do not understand this. My impression is that predators are not overly picky. Certainly they have a preferred prey food wherever they live but they are not likely to pass up a free lunch just because they have never seen it before. I doubt a hungry lion would give me a pass just because it has never seen a human before. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/19 "2008-02-11T20:00:21Z")
Well, it depends. Predators often specialize in one particular type of prey. This can be species wide, or individual. Sure, a hungry lion could kill you and eat you. But it might decide to leave you alone and concentrate on prey species it specializes in. Predators don’t just attack everything in sight, they have to carefully assess the risk of attacking a potentially dangerous animal. Most lions seem to believe that humans are dangerous and should be left alone. But some lions decide/discover that humans are tasty and easy to kill. But the typical fate of a habitual maneating lion is that it’s hunted down and killed, proving that the human-avoiding lions were right all along. Lions live in an area where there are lots of potential prey species that have the potential to kill a lion if the lion isn’t careful. A bonebreaking kick from a zebra could mean death if the injury doesn’t heal before the lion starves to death. The other thing to consider is that predators often aren’t hungry most of the time. Think about it this way, a predator on the ragged edge of starvation is in serious trouble, because it’s going to be weak and sick. Even if it came across a prey species it might be too slow to catch it or too weak to kill it. More typically a predator has no trouble finding enough food…most of the time. But then some slow time occurs…drought, winter, population crash of prey species, or whatever, and suddenly the predator that had no trouble finding food is starving. If a predator’s life depends on catching the next prey item it sees, then most times that predator is going to be dead, therefore the average predator can’t be starving because most starving predators die. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029/20 "2008-02-11T21:10:03Z")
[QUOTE=These are my own pants] Apparently Orcas will supplement their diet by eating land mammals like deer, moose and even polar bears. [/QUOTE] So now we have to worry about the [Land Orca](http://snltranscripts.jt.org/75/75djaws2.phtml) :eek: ? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-killer-whales-kill-people/437029.md?page=2)