New Knowledge Q&A | Why Don't Killer Whales Eat Humans and Instead Approach Them?
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Killer whales, also known as 'Killer Whales', are more appropriately translated as 'Killer Whales'. Killer whales are currently the top predators in the ocean, and their lethality and intelligence in hunting far exceed other marine animals, they are highly intelligent creatures.
Compared to humans, killer whales have enormous body size, they can easily kill swimmers in the ocean, but there has never been a record of killer whales eating or harming humans. Why don't killer whales eat humans?
Scientists studying killer whales believe this is related to the killer whales' high IQ. Intelligent killer whales have formed a preliminary understanding of humans through long-term observation, they understand that humans have strong abilities and also have destructive power. This can be seen from the different areas where killer whales behave towards humans. Killer whales will avoid humans in areas where they were previously hunted and captured; in areas where humans have helped killer whales, they will approach humans.
Killer whale cognition exists not only in individual entities but also is inherited within the entire group. As you know, killer whales are typical social animals and are matriarchal groups, children will stay with their mothers and female members of the group for a long time, even for their entire lives. During the growth of young killer whales, adult killer whales will impart survival knowledge to them, including their understanding of humans.
Many people don't believe killer whales are so intelligent. A whale trainer at the American Ocean World Theme Park wrote in his whale training records, they can distinguish which trainer is new and which is an intern trainer, and they bully new trainers who lack authority, because bullying new people will not be punished.
Sometimes it feels like there is a 'hero-to-hero' feeling between killer whales and humans. However, we have more powerful abilities, we should use these abilities to treat killer whales and other marine animals kindly, instead of plundering and killing.
Author: Jiang Hong (Zhihu user)
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