GEEZZ! DID THAT KILLER WHALE REALLY EAT THAT GUY?
- Truthfully We still don't Know. But We know The Following:
- Orcas Can and Do Kill Humans on Occasion
- We Have A Few Modern Accounts Of Orcas Exhibiting Hunting Behavior Relative to Humans on Ice Flows
- There Is A Strong Oral Tradition among Arctic Natives Of Orcas Exhibiting Hunting Behavior Towards Humans
- We Do Somewhat Superficially Resemble One Of Their Prey Species, The Emperor Penguin
- Orcas Do Beach Themselves and Kedge Off To Capture and Eat Seals
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| Emperor Penguin In Full Dress, Resembles Many A Chief Boatswain's Mate In Dinner Dress Uniform |
The post was in response to recent Great White Shark appearances at resort beaches on both the East and West Coasts. We provided some videos to encourage our visitors to follow that advice. We depicted Great White sharks in very shallow water exhibiting a lot of interest in humans. But the most controversial link was to a YouTube version of a video of a man apparently being eaten by a killer whale on a beach while standing in ankle deep water.
As we stated, we originally received the video from another source and there was no writing on it. We examined footage that we knew was authentic of Killer Whales deliberately beaching themselves to catch seals on a beach. So we were able to verify that the animal behavior depicted was within the realm of possibility. Click on the links below for examples of beach hunting by Killer Whales:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNnx_X5ue2c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWsN63PRCW8&feature=related
We used the YouTube version of the footage because of copy right concerns. YouTube expressed doubt about the authenticity of the video and we reported that. Yesterday we learned that the foreign language writing and logo is advertising and that the video is part of an ad as it appears on YouTube. For most of the critics of the footage that alone seems ample evidence to label the footage an advertising hoax. And we recognize that as a quite reasonable position. We have only three problems with simply agreeing with that assessment. First the movements of the animal are very similar to the videos we witnessed of seal taking at a beach but the Orca's head movements seem consistent with a taller target, or a target positioned somewhat higher than a typical seal position. Second, we have no explanation or origin for the footage that exists without advertising copy. We could engage in all sorts of speculation, but we have no real information. Finally, we have to admit that our capabilities are very limited and we have no in house real experts but we haven't found any evidence of photo shop work. That doesn't mean there isn't any, it just means we haven't found any.
So our position is still simply uncertain, but we think that is irrelevant to the point of our original posting. Our point being that in the face of beach warnings of apex marine predators in the vicinity, DON'T GO NEAR THE WATER!
Below is part of that controversial post and at the bottom the link to the video in question. If this footage is either real and used in advertising, or photoshopped and adapted for advertising, it's in really poor taste and we continue to warn against showing this footage to Children. We'll let you decide but we leave you with this thought, it definitely is within the realm of possibility. We also stand by our original advice concerning local authority warnings about the presence of apex marine predators near local beaches. Go to the golf course instead.
Yesterday we noted in one of our posts that local authorities in parts of New England and the West Coast had closed beaches or asked bathers to stay out of the water due to the confirmed presence of Great White sharks. Using videos and scientific information we tried to convince our readers to do what we professionals do when the local authorities advise staying out of the water, go to the golf course. Unfortunately as some of us who have been in the maritime search and rescue business have learned too many people try to bend the rules and get just a little bit wet when they have been warned that large marine apex predators are about.
Great White sharks are not the only apex marine predators that occasionally patrol beaches looking for a meal. If killer whales are in your vicinity and there is reasonably deep water within a few yards of the beach a human strolling the beach may look quite a bit like a large penguin, something they like to eat.
The video you are about to see; if you have the intestinal fortitude for it, when we were sent it had a sound track consisting of the man you will see die and the camera operator exchanging conversation in Spanish. The advertising you see in the YouTube version wasn't there. We believe this is real and not faked though now that it has made it to YouTube they express uncertainty about its origin. We also can't verify its origin, but believe this is a real video of an all too real and tragic event. We believe that this occurred on a virtual wilderness beach on the Pacific side of South America. We have already posted videos of Great White Sharks chasing humans into less than waist deep water.
If you view this video watch closely the movements of the "Killer Whale" as he moves off the beach with the victim. His body undulations are similar to those of an elephant seal. Clearly this animal was willing to deliberately ground himself for a meal with some confidence that he could wallow off again into deep water. We don't think this could happen just anywhere, but we have spots on the West Coast and Alaska with similar hydro- geography as is apparently pictured in this video.
There is no blood or gore in the video. The victim is taken in a second from the head down. As the Killer Whale turns for sea all you see of the victim is a leg hanging out of the predator's mouth not moving. We hope by presenting this admittedly shocking video we will help get our advice across. No matter how much you had your mind set on the beach when the local authorities close the beach due to the presence of apex marine predators, stay out, stay all the way out of the water!
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