If you see a killer whale out in the ocean and it swims near, can you swim with it or touch it?

30/9/2012

Each country has its own laws and regulations which govern how you may interact with orca in the wild. In many countries and states, it is illegal to approach too closely to orca, either by boat and other watercraft or when swimming. If you do come across orca, many laws stipulate that you must keep outside of an exclusion zone (for example, in US waters you are not allowed to approach closer than 200 metres). This also applies for if you are swimming in the water and where able to do so, you must get out.

It is incredibly important that you research these laws for any given country or state because they will differ depending on where you are. By not being aware of regulations, you could put yourself and the orca into a dangerous situation and you will also be liable to receive any penalties set out by the country or state, (such as a hefty fine and/or jail sentence). In many countries, to be able to swim with orca you must have a special permit provided by the government.

Orca are top ocean predators and the largest apex predator to roam the earth since the dinosaurs and so they should be treated respectfully.

6 Comments

Natalia link

28/4/2017 06:14:23 pm

your the best

Jonathan Bradley

7/3/2019 07:01:50 am

I honestly don't understand why swimming with Orca is illegal. Boats? Absolutely, the risk of injury to the animals not to mention the overwhelming noise boat motors make underwater means it is important to restrict vessels from approaching them. But swimming? Why not? The animals may be momentarily minorly distracted from their natural routine, but unless the swimmer/diver is actively disrupting them from their prey or purposely agitating them (which would be stupid and dangerous) why not allow people to swim with these magnificent creatures?

Orca Aware Team

10/3/2019 05:52:09 pm

Dear Jonathan,

Thank you for your question.

There are some countries that do not prohibit this, however, generally, where restrictions exist, it is to protect both orca and people.

The difficulty of allowing non-expert and non-licensed individuals in the water with orca (or other cetaceans) is that they would not necessarily have sufficient knowledge of the environment or species' / population's behaviour to recognise when unintentional disruption or harm is being caused. The constant exposure to humans would not be fair on the animals and there is also the risk of intentional harm, because not all humans would have sensible intentions.

Regulating these encounters, enforcing legislation and upholding accountability when things did go wrong would be challenging too - we see this even in countries where in-water interactions are restricted.

We hope this helps answer your question and we would always recommend doing further country-specific research as other factors, such as conservation status, will also impact local and national legislation.

charmaine fitzgerald

24/7/2020 01:36:39 pm

what happens if your swimming and the orca approaches you can you still be fined as it would'nt be your fault

Xeno

31/10/2020 08:31:25 am

Since August 2020 there have been reported more than 30 attacks of sailing boats by orca whales. The orcas usually hit the rudder of the boat even if the boat using motor. I would like to know what is the right thing to do when you encounter these massive animals? Should you stop the boat or should you keep moving? Usually these attacks last about an hour.
Thank you

Alexandra

16/7/2021 05:18:01 pm

That honestly stupid !
Orca whales won’t hurt people and if they come by a boat and is playful I’m not not going to play with it .., why ignore a beautiful animal that does no harm at all…,a lot of places let’s you swim and pet and some don’t that’s ridiculous like why ignore an orca if he or she wants to play that’s not fair to them .., I’ll take that risk because I’m not going to ignore them soryy that’s bullshit

If you see a killer whale out in the ocean and it swims near, can you swim with it or touch it?

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