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Killer whales (or orcas) are powerful predators capable of killing prey much larger than humans, such as leopard seals and great white sharks. They have also been recorded preying on usually terrestrial species such as moose swimming between islands. However, wild orcas are not considered a real threat to humans, as there are few documented cases of wild orcas attacking people, and no fatal encounters. In captivity, however, there have been several non-fatal and fatal attacks on humans since the 1970s.〔 Experts are divided as to whether the injuries and deaths were accidental or deliberate attempts to cause harm. ==Incidents with wild orca== There are few recorded cases of wild orcas threatening humans.〔 * In the 1910s, the Terra Nova Expedition recorded that killer whales had attempted to tip ice floes on which an expedition photographer and a sled dog team were standing. * On June 15, 1972, the hull of the wooden schooner ''Lucette'' (Lucy) was stove in by a pod of killer whales and sank approximately 200 miles west of the Galapagos Islands. The group of six people aboard escaped to an inflatable life raft and a solid-hull dinghy. * On September 9, 1972, Californian surfer Hans Kretschmer reported being bitten by a killer whale at Point Sur; most maintain that this remains the only fairly well-documented instance of a wild orca biting a human. His wounds required 100 stitches.〔 * In August 2005, while swimming in four feet of water in Helm Bay, near Ketchikan, Alaska, a 12-year-old boy named Ellis Miller was bumped in the shoulder by a 25-foot transient killer whale.〔 The boy was not bitten or injured in any way. The bay is frequented by harbor seals, and it is possible that the whale misidentified him as prey.〔 * During the filming of the third episode of the BBC documentary ''Frozen Planet'' (2011), a group of orcas were filmed trying to swamp the film crew's 18-foot zodiac boat with waves as they were filming. The crew had earlier taped the group hunting seals in the same fashion. It was not mentioned if any of the crew were hurt in the encounter. The crew described the orcas as being very tolerant of the film makers' presence. Over the course of 14 days they filmed over 20 different attacks on seals, many of which the film's series producer Vanessa Berlowitz describe as training exercises for the young calves in the group.〔(Discovery.com/Frozen Planet Video Gallery )〕 * On February 10, 2014, a free diver in Horahora Estuary near Whangarei, New Zealand was pulled down for over 40 seconds by a killer whale that grabbed a bag containing crayfish and urchins, which was attached to his arm by a rope. The rope eventually came free. He then undid his weight belt and returned to the surface. He had lost all feeling in his arm and could no longer swim, but his cousin was nearby and helped him float to some rocks where the feeling in his arm returned. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Killer whale attacks on humans」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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