killer whale attack

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Orcas Sink Yacht in Halloween Attack

They 'hit the steering fin for 45 minutes, causing major damage and leakage'

(Newser) - It could be the plot of a horror movie. A group of orcas attacked and sank a yacht in an attack that lasted for almost an hour on Halloween, a tour company says. In a post on Facebook , a Polish tour company said the orcas "hit the steering fin...

Aggressive Orcas Set Their Sights on Elite Yacht Race

Pod of killer whales goes after boats taking part in around-the-world Ocean Race near Spain

(Newser) - A pod of killer whales bumped one of the boats in an endurance sailing race as it approached the Strait of Gibraltar, the latest encounter in what researchers say is a growing trend of sometimes-aggressive interactions with Iberian orcas. The 15-minute run-in with at least three of the giant mammals...

Orcas Disable Boat, Stalk It as It's Towed to Shore
In a First, Orcas
Stalk Boat to Port
in case you missed it

In a First, Orcas Stalk Boat to Port

Killer whales disabled, followed vessel as it was towed back to shore

(Newser) - It's still unclear why a group of orcas is attacking the rudders of sailboats off the Iberian Peninsula. What is clear is that they're not letting up. There were 20 incidents in the Strait of Gibraltar in the month of May, per the Independent . And in one case,...

Endangered Orcas May Have Learned to Target Boats

Is it for fun? Or is it 'based on trauma'?

(Newser) - Scientists say a small group of killer whales could be putting humans and themselves in danger by repeatedly ramming, and occasionally sinking, sailboats. Orcas interacting with boats is nothing new. But scientists say there is something different about the behavior of this group of about 15 orcas off the coast...

Dead Sharks on a Beach Were Missing Their Livers

The orcas Port and Starboard are the suspected killers

(Newser) - First Cocaine Bear, now Disemboweling Orcas? The former may be fiction, but marine biologists say the second are all too real and recently attacked a group of sharks off South Africa.
  • The gory details. Twenty dead sharks—19 broad nosed seven-gill and one spotted gully, all females measuring up to
...

Whale Nearly Drowns Sea World Trainer in Video

Ken Peters pats orca's back, barely escapes alive

(Newser) - A chilling video of an attempt by a Sea World whale to drown her trainer has been shown at a hearing concerning workplace safety at the amusement park. The female orca Kasatka grabs trainer Ken Peters by one of his feet during a performance and drags him deep underwater in...

Whale That Killed Trainer to Perform Again

SeaWorld putting Tilikum back to work

(Newser) - Tilikum, the killer whale that drowned a trainer last year and has been involved in two other human deaths, is returning to show business. Officials at Orlando's SeaWorld say the 6-ton whale, the largest killer whale in captivity, will take part in shows beginning today. The park has spent millions...

Rescuers Had to Pry Trainer From Orca

Workers also say they had trouble deploying nets

(Newser) - SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau had to be forcibly extracted from the mouth of the orca that killed her, say witness accounts released by police. The accounts rehash much already known information but paint a more complete portrait of the chaotic rescue efforts. After the whale bit down on Brancheau's ponytail,...

Hundreds Mourn Slain SeaWorld Trainer

Dawn Brancheau remembered as 'a great lady'

(Newser) - Family and friends remembered SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau today as someone who died doing what she loved. "You could see it on her face every day," a family friend said as he arrived at Brancheau's funeral in Chicago. "She loved what she did." Brancheau, 40, died...

SeaWorld Will Resume Orca Shows

Company continues review into killer whale attack

(Newser) - SeaWorld will resume orca shows tomorrow while the company conducts a review of the events leading to a trainer's death at the Florida park. The "Shamu Believe" show will go on, but trainers will not be allowed in the water with the killer whales until after the review is...

Celebs Split on Killer-Whale Killing

 Celebs Split on 
 Killer-Whale Killing 
flu is way scarier, says dane

Celebs Split on Killer-Whale Killing

Khloe Kardashian has whale-phobia; Dane Cook thinks flu is scarier

(Newser) - Celebs are split on which is more outrageous: that the whale that killed a SeaWorld trainer this week is still alive, or that the whale was a captured and trained to perform in the first place. Reactions from Hollywood, as rounded up by E! :
  • Nick Cannon: “People need to
...

Video Shows Trainer in Water, Playing With Whale

She's seen smiling, in up to her shoulders

(Newser) - A tourist's video shows SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau playing in the water with the whale moments before the fatal attack. In the nearly 7-minute video posted by Orlando station WESH-TV, a smiling Brancheau is seen in the water up to her shoulders, right by the whale, at about the 6:...

SeaWorld: Killer Whale Grabbed Trainer's Ponytail

Dawn Brancheau was 'underwater for an extended period of time'

(Newser) - The SeaWorld trainer slain by a killer whale yesterday was pulled underwater by her ponytail, according to the company, the latest in a variety of explanations as to how she ended up in the water. Because of Tillikum’s size and history, trainers never got into the pool with him....

Trainer Death Sparks New Call to Free Killer Whales

Captivity is cruel, and accidents are unavoidable, activists say

(Newser) - The death of a SeaWorld trainer is being met with the inevitable calls to free Willy, and end orca captivity once and for all. “These behemoths are denied all of their natural, instinctual inclinations,” one tells the Christian Science Monitor . “We humans tend to think, ‘Well,...

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