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Background:

The apex predator of the ocean, killer whales, is one of the most distributed and easily recognized whales in the world's oceans. Orcas are considered ruthless and dangerous. History is full of killer whale attacks. In the wild, there has been no fatal attack of killer whales on human beings. Nevertheless, in captivity, there have been many cases of fatal and no fatal attacks on humans. This problem first came in front of the world when the 1st incident of attack occurred with wild orcas. In the early months of 1910, a killer whale tried to attack a photographer and his dog standing on the ice floes. Till 2020 only two to 3 incidents were reported in the wild, but in 2020, at least forty attacks were reported from reliable sources from July to October. Scientists were baffled when cases of captive killer whales' attacks were reported. Some of these cases were fatal. In 1968 first young female trainer was chased out of the tank by a whale. The killer attack was fatal from 1970 -1980, but they only injured their trainers. However, in 1991 Tilikum named killer whale killed female trainer Keltie Byrne, which was the first incident in which someone lost life, and after that, it occurred last time in 2012 when an orca killed a human being.

As mentioned above, history provides enough information that humans turn Orcinus Orca into a killer whale; hence, it is a legitimate problem. The frequency of cases also increased with time now. The captive nature of human beings is responsible for this issue. It is affecting human beings' lives as well as animals' lives.Three causes of attack are described in detail below.

1. Stress of Captivity 

As there are no records of fatal attacks by an orca in the wild, but four attacks were reported in captivity in the last 20 years. It is not easy to say what circumstances lead killer whales to attack human beings, but many scientists think captivity stress may be why killer whales attack human beings. One should remember that they are social animals, and their social interaction with wildlife is very impressive. They share a powerful bond with their species. They also try to make that bond with a human in a captive situation. Captivity is not appropriate for these animals (Hickie et al.).

2. Small Space 

Small space can be why a whale can attack a human as they live in an enormously huge space (oceans). In small spaces, they experienced different hardships of life. They miss their freedom and space, so they get frustrated. In small spaces everywhere, stressful conditions are present. Tanks are not for them; they are too big to be confined in a tank.

3. Being Controlled

Killer whales do not like to be controlled or trained. It led to the development of self-destructive behaviors. They undergo hormonal changes when stressed to be a puppet. These hormones make them violent (Ford).

The solution which can be used to prevent killer whales from attacking to human is discussed below.

· Orcas should not be kept in captivity for the sake of entertainment.

· Killer whales should live in a large space, which can minimize their violent behavior.

· Orcas should not be trained for entertainment purposes. They should be allowed to follow their natural routine.

Work Cited

Hickie, Brendan E., et al. "Killer whales (Orcinus orca) face protracted health risks associated with lifetime exposure to PCBs." Environmental Science & Technology 41.18 (2007): 6613-6619.

Ford, John KB. "Killer whale: Orcinus orca." Encyclopedia of marine mammals. Academic Press, 2009. 650-657.