Facts about Orcas.

[elmer fudd]

So I decided to research killer whales a little and I figured what better source to learn from than an old 50's TV show, namely Sea Hunt-Season 1, Episode 11-Killer Whale. For those of you with a scientific bent you can check it out yourself at
Hulu - Sea Hunt: Killer Whale - Watch the full episode now.

I'll tell you, there were a lot of surprising facts in that episode. To start off with, I was shocked to learn that, "killer whales prefer warm blooded prey and often human beings." I was also surprised to learn that in all the oceans there's nothing "faster, more cunning or more savage than these killers," and that, "they often even capsize boats." It seems that, "they're known to kill anything" and that if there's a killer whale off the coast, "no skin diver or small boat is going to be safe."

In that episode the orca kills two people and attacks numerous small boats. Fortunately Lloyd Bridges finds a guy with a harpoon gun and they hunt and kill it. Whew, what a relief!

All in all a thoroughly entertaining show. Reminded me a bit of the old Batman series.

 

[Walter]

Did you notice one of the shots of the Killer Whale is actually a Basking Shark?

 

[siikik]

I seem to remember they are not fond of bottlenose dolphins.



Ken

 

[lock_washer]

Interesting note...back in the 50's the US Navy was requested by the Icelandic Government to have them machine gunned by Navy planes. Also if still recall...their use to be a machine enplacement off British Columbia to machine gun killer whales...don't think it was ever used. During the 60's when they were catching the killer whales for the aquariums...quite of few of them had bullet holes in their blubber.

Lock Washer

 

[EastEndDiver]

They filmed a Pilot Whale for most of the underwater scenes.

 

[lock_washer]

Haven't seen the episode, but that makes sense since they filmed at the old Marineland of the Pacific in Los Angeles...its most likely Bubbles the Pilot Whale. By the way...Bubbles is still alive and down at Sea World in San Diego.

Lock Washer

 

[gcbryan]

It seems the same producers must still be around with the Giant Pacific Octopus...killers of the deep ...type of treatment some of the "documentaries" on PBS continually come up with!

 

[elmer fudd]

I did catch the opening scene with the basking shark. I didn't know the exact variety, but the upright tail fin made it pretty obvious that it wasn't a whale. Likewise with the pilot whale later in the show. The markings and the nose were just completely different.

Strangely enough, I watched a few other episodes and despite the goofy Hollywood plot lines they were surprisingly accurate in their descriptions of octopi and sharks. In different episodes he mentioned that octopi were not aggressive and hardly ever attacked people and that if you didn't bother sharks that they would leave you alone. Obviously LB had some issues with killer whales though.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

....

I'll tell you, there were a lot of surprising facts in that episode

....

All in all a thoroughly entertaining show. Reminded me a bit of the old Batman series.

So, were you planning on debunking all the total lies you have started this thread with or were you just hoping someone else would clean up your mess?

If you have been paying attention to the US National Health Care debacle, you would understand that the ignorant masses tend to believe everything they read on line and hear on TV; you may have just condemned Orca's to a harpoon insurgency.

Sarcasm and irony is lost on the masses; speak slowly and don't use big words if you expect to educate anybody lurking!

 

[wedivebc]

All right, believe it or not you will find technical faults in all Sea Hunt episodes. One of my favorites "the men had been down at 60ft for nine hours already and some were beginning to feel the effects of nitrogen narcosis"
Unfortunately Canadians can't watch HULU but I do recall the episode with the killer whales.