Orca Attacks on Humans

There have been very few, at least three, cases of wild orcas attacking humans none of which have been fatal, and probably misidentified the human as prey. However, in captivity there have been several attacks some of which have been fatal.

• 1968 - Lupa, New York Aquarium chased her trainers out of the tank whilst they were cleaning the tank.
• 1970 - Cuddles, Dudley Zoo and Flamingo Park, England attacked his trainers twice and became so aggressive they had to clean his pool from a shark cage.
• 1970s - Hugo and Lolita, Miami Seaquarium became aggressive, lunging and snapping at trainers on the centre work island.
• 1970s - Nepo, Marine World California dragged his trainer to the bottom of the tank.
• 1970s - Orky II, Marineland of the Pacific, USA seized his trainer and held him at the of the tank until he nealy lost consciousness.
• 1970s - Skana, Vancouver Aquarium dragged a trainer around the pool.
• 1971 - Shamu, SeaWorld, San Diego threw a trainer from her back and grabbed the woman by her leg, she required 100 stitches.
• 1975 - Hugo, Miami Seaquarium, during a water work session refused to allow his trainer out of the water and bit him several times, leaving a scar.
• 1975 - Hugo grabbed another trainer and thrashed him, Lolita then joined in, any injuries weren’t reported.
• 1978 - Orky II dragged another trainer to the bottom of the tank and held her there for nearly 4 minutes.
• 1984 - Kandu V, SeaWorld, California pinned her trainer against a tank wall during a performance.
• 1986 - Kandu 7, Marineland Ontario dragged his trainer arouund the pool by his leg during a trick, the trainer was taken to hospital.
• 1987 - Kenau SeaWorld, San Diego grabbed a trainer and dragged him to the bottom of the tank and then carried him bleeding all the way back to the surface, Kandu V then slammed into him and they both repeatedly dragged him to the bottom of the pool, the trainer was cut all around his torso, had a ruptured kidney and a six-inch laceration of his liver.
• 1987 - Kandu V landed on top of her trainer and pushed her to the bottom of the pool, the trainer suffered from a fractured neck.
• 1989 - Nootka IV, Sealand of the Pacific pulled her trainer into the tank while the trainer had her hand in the mouth of the orca in order to scratch its tongue, the trainer needed several stitches.
• 1989 - Nootka IV grabbed a tourist’s camera that was accidentally dropped into the tank, a trainer attempted to retrieve the camera but was pulled into the pool.
• 1991 - Haida II, Nootka IV, and Tilikum, Sealand of the Pacific killed a trainer when she accidentally slipped and fell into the tank, they grabbed her by the foot and dragged her into the pool and they pushed and threw the trainer around the pool.
• 1999 - at SeaWorld, Orlando a deceased man was found nude in one of the orca tanks, draped across Tilikum, an autopsy revealed that the man died of a combination of hypothermia and drowning, the man was covered in bruises, abrasions and bite marks.
• 1999 - Kasatka, SeaWorld, San Diego grabbed her trainer by the leg and attempted to throw him from the pool during a public show.
• 2002 - a trainer working at SeaWorld, Florids was hospitalized for a broken arm and several minor injuries after doing poolside work with Orkid and Splash.
• 2004 - Kyuquot, SeaWorld, San Antonio repeatedly jumped on top of his trainer forcing him underwater and stopped the trainer from escaping the water, after several minutes he exited the pool unhurt.
• 2005 - Taku, SeaWorld, Florida repeatedly bumped into his trainer who was later taken to hospital for minor injuries.
• 2006 - Orkid, SeaWorld California grabbed a trainer by the foot and pulled him to the bottom of the tank, he suffered a torn ligament in his ankle.
• 2006 - Kasatka, SeaWorld, San Diego grabbed her trainer by the foot and dragged him to the bottom of the tank twice during a show, this was the second documented incident of Kasatka attacking her trainer.
• 2007 - at Loro Parque, Spain a trainer was hospitalized after she was injured during a training session, the orca (possibly Tekoa) crashed into the trainer injuring her right lung and breaking her forearm in two places.
• 2008 - Freya, Marineland Antibes pulled a trainer under the water, when the trainer resurfaced Freya began jumping on top of the man he escaped seeming unhurt.
• 2009 - Keto, Loro Parque killed his trainer during a rehearsal for a Christmas Day, he reportedly rammed the trainer in the chest, an autopsy report revealed that he died due to serious injuries he sustained from the attack, including multiple compression fractures and tears to his vital organs with the bite marks all over his body.
• 2010 - Tilikum, SeaWorld, Orlando killed a trainer during a show, officials confirmed that Tilikum grabbed his trainer by her ponytail and pulled her into the water and drowning her, the autopsy determined that the trainer died of “multiple traumatic injuries and drowning”.

In other words, don’t be surprised when another trainer dies at the hands of a captive orca. None of this would have happened if the orcas remained in the wild, where they belong.

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