Nature
PUBLISHED
Human-wildlife conflict is one of the biggest issues relating to the ability of the world's wildlife and people to coexist. Whether it’s living through a cicadapocalypse, having your crops stolen by hungry elephants, or the impact of war on wildlife, there are basic rules when it comes to living side by side with the creatures of the world. Not leaping off a boat to try and "body slam" an orca shouldn’t need to be one of them.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.The Department of Conservation in New Zealand became concerned when a video of a man leaping off a pleasure boat into the sea, in a deliberate effort to touch or even “body slam” an orca, surfaced on social media.
"The video left us genuinely stunned. As well as the initial attempt to dive onto the animal, the man stays in the water and then swims toward it again in a second attempt to touch it," said DOC Principal Investigation Officer Hayden Loper in a statement. "This is stupid behaviour and demonstrates a shocking disregard for the welfare of the orca. It is extremely irresponsible."
The 50-year-old man leapt into the water with both a male orca and a calf swimming round the boat, the video shows. Other people on the boat can be heard laughing and cheering in the background.
"Orca are immensely powerful animals, and this really could have ended horribly – with either the startled whale being injured, or the man responsible being harmed by the aggravated animal," continued Loper.
Working with the police, the man was identified and fined $600 NZD (around $370 USD) for his behavior.
Loper said, "It’s a very clear breach of the Marine Mammals Protection Act. Orca are classified as whales under conservation legislation and it is illegal to swim with whales, or disturb or harass any marine mammal."
Killer whales are actually the largest member of the dolphin family, and while they have a large distribution worldwide, they are thought to only number 150-200 off the coast of New Zealand. They are extremely intelligent and have been known to sink yachts in the Mediterranean. A further shocking incident of human-wildlife conflict occurred recently when a group were spotted pulling bear cubs out of trees in North Carolina, USA.
Up to now, there's never been a recorded instance of an orca attacking a human in the wild – but there's always a first time...
