Hi Amey:
I'm happy to tell you that you, not your teacher, are right! Killer
whales don't eat humans. There have been a couple of cases in which
captive killer whales in aquaria have injured or even killed a person;
some years ago a trainer at the Vancouver Aquarium was held down and
drowned by a killer whale in a tank. But there was no lunch involved
afterwards, and anyway you can't really say much about the natural
behavior of killer whales from observations of animals cooped up for years
in a small tank. Killer whales are intelligent and highly social animals
- they stay in the group they're born into, for life - and they range over
great distances in the wild... so if you stick one in a tiny tank all
alone, it's not entirely surprising that they go a bit loopy after years
of captivity. I probably would too!
Killer whales are divided into two types. One type eats fish, and the
other type feeds mostly on marine mammals (seals, dolphins, occasionally
big whales). The two types have nothing to do with each other and they
are probably on their way to being separate species.
Anyway, now your problem is you have to find a kind and gentle way to tell
your teacher that she's wrong. Good luck!
Phil
-- Phillip J. Clapham, Ph.D. Large Whale Biology Program Northeast Fisheries Science Center 166 Water Street Woods Hole, MA 02543Tel (508) 495-2316 Fax (508) 495-2066
> hey, my name is Amey > and i was just wondering if you could help me. i was sat at school today > and my teacher told us that killer whales eat humans, but i debaited > with him that they don't according to a book i read. do they eat > humans? i know they have had a accident with one years ago but its not > a habit, is it? > thank you for your time
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