ORCA - The Killer
Whale The World's Largest Dolphin!
As if the perils of real life are not enough,
modern day storytellers, writers, and film makers are always
looking for ways to exaggerate reality, which tends to invoke a
very real fear of unreal situations.
It was no different back in the days before film
and special effects. Seafarers and other adventurers
shared a fondness for fanciful exaggeration. This knack
for "telling a good story" not only made an otherwise uneventful
journey more memorable, but created a breed of heroes in the
eyes of the less adventurous population.
Enter the Orca, or the Killer Whale.
Actually not a whale at all, but a large species of dolphin
which feeds on larger, warm blooded prey such as seals.
Occasionally, Orca will also bite an Orca pup, which gives it a
reputation as a whale killer as well. But will a Killer
Whale also kill a man? (i.e. Scuba Divers). Lets go back into history and find
out...
It is the year 1911, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.
Robert Falcon Scott and his crew were preparing one last attempt
to reach the South Pole. His team of Huskies was tethered
on a large chunk of floating ice - not an unusual means of
transportation when all there is around you is water, and
ice. Suddenly, the Orcas appear, bumping the ice from
below, just the way they have always done, in an attempt to
dislodge what they probably thought were seals or penguins -
their normal mainstay. Herb Pointing, the expedition's
photographer, was there to capture the scene.
This story was told and retold by Scott and his
crew until finally the portion about the dogs being atop the ice
was left out of the tale. It seemed we now have a
deliberate attack on man. The U.S navy later got in on the
story, posting a warning for anyone sailing the Antarctica, to
beware of the "Killer Whales" - known for unprovoked attacks on
humans "at every opportunity"!
In the 1950's two men in a fishing dinghy
reported that their boat was repeatedly attacked by Killer
Whales. Upon inspection of their boat, however, the tooth
marks left in the wooden hull were decidedly those of a shark.
In the decade to come, a writer you may
recognize, Roger Caras, did some research on these apparent
encounters. None of them were found to be actual attacks
by Orcas. There is no record in history of an Orca attack
on man or any vessel.
These magnificent creatures are in reality as
gentle and loving as their close cousins, the dolphins. So
the next time you see that familiar black and white form and
that toothy smile, call him by his real name, call him Orca, the
world's largest dolphin.
Dive safe and enjoy your time underwater... Bwana