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Space Exploration is Safer than Ocean Exploration

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Space Exploration is Safer than Ocean Exploration

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Explorers of space and the deep sea face similar dangers, but some differences make one realm safer than the other

By Syris Valentine

You, your crew and your craft float in hostile environs miles away from civilization. As you set about your mission, only a few inches of metal separate you from an environment that could kill you in moments. Your life depends on the engineers who designed your vessel. All it takes is one crack or puncture to rupture your shell and extinguish your life. These conditions apply equally to a submersible in the deep sea and a spacecraft beyond Earth. Given the similar risk of sudden death, it's natural to ask: Which is safer?

Recent news shows the question is more relevant than ever. In June 2023 a submersible craft called the Titan operated byOceanGate Expeditions was crushed while descending to the wreck of the Titanic on the seafloor of the Atlantic Ocean, killing all five men inside. The incident occurred only two months after SpaceX's Starship, the largest rocket built to date, exploded less than four minutes after surging toward space in its first test flight-luckily, no one was onboard.

Whether you're going 20,000 leagues under the sea or from the Earth to the moon, spacecraft and submersibles follow many of the same engineering principles. Their passenger compartments are pressure vessels: containers designed, like an overachiever raised by demanding parents, to withstand high pressures inside and out.

The Risks of Space

When engineers develop a spacecraft, they ask a few key questions that guide their process, says David Klaus, a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, who studies risk assessment and human spaceflight. They are, he explains, "What do we want to do? What does it take to do it? What can go wrong? And what can we do to reduce the chance of the bad things going wrong?" These questions seem simple enough, but the answers are essential.

When NASA, SpaceX, Blue Origin or anyone else considers sending humans into space, the vehicle they build must do three things. First, it has to accommodate the crew members by meeting their basic needs such as oxygen, food and water. Second, it should allow them to accomplish mission objectives. Lastly, it must protect the people onboard and on the ground from the risks of spaceflight and reentry. Sometimes meeting one need introduces new risks. The crew needs to breathe, of course, but it was high-pressure tanks of liquid oxygen that caused an explosion on Apollo 13, and it was the fuel powering an oxygen generator that sparked a fire onboard the Mir space station in 1997.

The space environment itself piles on hazards. Not only do astronauts float through a near vacuum filled with radiation that no practical amount of shielding can stop, but in low-Earth orbit, where the International Space Station (ISS) operates, crews have to contend with a growing cloud of high-tech shrapnel circling Earth. These pieces of orbital detritus are often broken-up bits of old satellites. The ISS's debris shields can absorb impacts from particles smaller than half an inch, but between 1999 and 2022, the station had to fire thrusters 32 times to avoid collisions with larger objects. A single hit would be disastrous; at speeds of 17,500 miles per hour, even something the size of a softball can cause severe damage.

Thankfully, neither the Apollo 13 explosion nor the Mir fire nor the ISS's many near misses have resulted in any fatalities. Astronauts have not always been so fortunate, however. In 1986, after a frigid night and only 73 seconds into its final flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart, killing all seven people onboard. The disaster caused a three-year pause on all space shuttle operations, but it led NASA to create the Office of Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance-later renamed the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance. This office couldn't prevent all problems, though, and 17 years later the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry.

Still, besides Challenger and Columbia, NASA has had only one other fatal mid-flight accident in its six and a half decades of human spaceflight: in 1967 a pilot died in a jet-powered plane crash after reaching an altitude of just more than 50 miles. That tally, however, leaves out the 1967 capsule fire that killed the Apollo 1 crew during a ground test on the launchpad. And Soyuz 1 and Soyuz 11, two Soviet spacecraft, suffered accidents while attempting to return to Earth in 1967 and 1971 respectively, killing a total of four cosmonauts. "Congress has said since the very beginning, space [travel] is inherently an ultrahazardous activity," says Sara Langston, an assistant professor of aerospace law at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. "And with any ultrahazardous activity, that means, no matter how much you try to make it safe, it is not safe." Klaus's research backs this up. In a 2018 paper, he and his former graduate student Robert Ocampo found that going to space has historically had a similar level of risk as climbing Mount Everest.

The U.S. government is so aware of the dangers that it currently refuses to certify any commercial vehicle as safe for ferrying humans to space. Under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, space companies are required to inform would-be spacefarers of this lack of certification before payments are made, and all passengers must sign liability waivers with the government. To ensure informed consent can be given, space companies also have to walk space tourists and commercial crew members through the history of spaceflight safety prior to the launch.

Deep-Sea Risks

But what about diving into the dark, watery depths that span two thirds of our world? Given the gruesome deaths suffered by the five men onboard the Titan, it's easy to believe that the ultrahigh pressures of the deep sea are more dangerous than any ride to space. Ocean exploration is, however, often safer than it seems.

Aside from OceanGate, the submersible industry overall has a strong track record of safety. Prior to Titan, there had not been a fatal accident involving commercial submersibles since 1974, despite thousands of submersible dives every year since the late 1980s, according to a fact sheet prepared by the Marine Technology Society's Submarine Committee.

The standard of safety for submarine operations results in part from the robust rules and regulations maintained by third-party certifiers such as the American Bureau of Shipping. For any ship or submersible to be certified, the agency will review the design and calculations prior to construction. During subsequent assembly, inspectors will verify builders are using the stated materials and correct techniques, and they'll be on hand when the finished vehicle undergoes testing to confirm that appropriate procedures are followed. Only then will the vessel be formally classed for a specific activity.

Out of the 11activecommercial vessels designed to plunge to depths of 4,000 meters (nearly 2.5 miles) or more, only Titan was not inspected and certified by a third party. The craft was able to avoid this in part because certification isn't legally required-once you enter international waters, you leave the law behind. According to Diane Desierto, a professor of international law at Notre Dame University, there are no laws, regulations or conventions that govern the design and operation of deep-sea submersibles on the high seas. Plus, she says, under current U.S. Coast Guard requirements, "a submersible that has less than six people is not subject to inspection." Titan held five. "That's largely why they were able to deploy without any certification," Desierto says. With one more passenger, a Coast Guard certificate of inspection would have been required for any passenger vessel built or launched in the U.S.-and Titan was constructed in Everett, Wash.

Even with a third-party certification, operators still need to be ready for the inherent risks involved in what they're doing. "The best practice is: when you're doing deep-ocean diving, you have to have an emergency operations plan," says William Kohnen, CEO of Hydrospace Group, an engineering firm with more than 25 years of experience in the submersible industry. One of the standard protocols is to have a second submersible on hand that can reach the first one if necessary, which is a tactic film director and deep-sea explorer James Cameron used during his 33 dives to the Titanic.

These protocols and certifications have helped to make submersibles safer, statistically, than going to space. Another safety boon for deep-sea explorers is the fact that a submersible doesn't have to endure the violent forces of launch and reentry that spacecraft currently undergo. Furthermore, subs have a longer record of operation, which makes them even safer. In their 2018 paper, Klaus and Ocampo found a clear correlation between the safety of an activity and the number of times it's performed. "The more you do something, the more lessons you learn," Klaus says. "You encounter problems. You fix them. You move forward. So most things tend to get safer just by virtue of lessons learned and applied."

Given that there have been orders of magnitude more sub dives than rocket launches, submersibles may always have a safety advantage over spacecraft. But as SpaceX, Blue Origin and others perfect their reusable vehicles and strive for an increased launch frequency, we can look forward to an ever safer environment for space travel as well.

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Which Is More Dangerous: Outer Space or the Deep Sea?

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Explorers of space and the deep sea face similar dangers, but some differences make one realm safer than the other

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Mrs. Ballin's Classroom Library has this book available to checkout

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Climbing Mount Everest is always an extreme challenge. But experts say tackling the world's highest peak-located in Asia on the border between Nepal and China-became much, much riskier this year.

That's because of a huge increase in the number of climbers allowed on the mountain, which recently led to deadly human traffic jams along the stretch to the top. At 29,029 feet, Everest is so high that humans must rely on bottled oxygen to breathe near the summit. Stuck waiting for hours in lines to reach Everest's peak, some climbers ran low on oxygen. That was likely a key factor in many of the at least 11 deaths on the mountain this year.

Most people start their climbs from Nepal. One of the poorest nations in Asia, Nepal relies heavily on money from Everest expeditions. Its government issued more permits to climb the mountain in 2019 than ever before-many to inexperienced climbers, experts say.

In response to a global outcry following one of the deadliest Everest seasons on record, officials in Nepal say they may start requiring climbers to prove their experience.

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Climbing Mount Everest is always an extreme challenge. But experts say tackling the world's highest peak-located in Asia on the border between Nepal and China-became much, much riskier this year. That's because of a huge increase in the number of climbers allowed on the mountain, which recently led to deadly human traffic jams along the stretch to the top.

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Avalanche kills at least 12 people on Mount Everest | Fox News Video

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10 Reasons Mountain Climbing Improves your Life

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10 Reasons Mountain Climbing Improves your Life

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 for Kids | Educational Videos by Mocomi

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Mount Everest Facts and  History - Fun Facts for Kids | Educational Videos by Mocomi

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California bill would ban orca shows at SeaWorld

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California bill would ban orca shows at SeaWorld

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California bill would ban orca shows at SeaWorld | CNN

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A California state legislator wants to ban the orca killer whale shows at SeaWorld, in the wake of CNN's controversial documentary "Blackfish."

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Zoologist: Orcas will decline in wild | CNN

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Brooke Baldwin talks with animal trainer and zoologist Grey Stafford about the benefits of holding orcas in captivity.

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Amitai Etzioni says there are bigger priorities than a new push for manned exploration in space

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Las verdaderas razones por las que exploramos el espacio

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Las verdaderas razones por las que exploramos el espacio

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Help Save our Oceans! : A Groundbreaking Undersea Expedition with Fabien Cousteau

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His amazing skills helped make surfing a hit around the world.

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Discovery Channel

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Washington, DC - As Shark Week kicks off this week, more than 200 restaurants across the United States and Canada are exacerbating the rapid decline in shark species by continuing to serve an expensive soup made from their butchered fins.

According to an online database maintained by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), many of these restaurants continue to offer shark fin soup, a traditional East Asian dish associated with banquets and celebrations, despite bans on shark products in more than a dozen US states and territories, and a recent Canadian law prohibiting the import and export of shark fins.

For the second year, California continues to lead the United States in the number of restaurants offering shark fin products, despite a 2013 state law that prohibits the possession, sale, trade, or distribution of shark fins. New York, which passed a similar ban in 2014, had the second-highest number of restaurants serving shark fin.

AWI regularly engages with law enforcement officials in states with shark fin sales bans to inform them of restaurants that, based on the nonprofit's research, are violating the law.

Human actions, such as shark finning and overfishing, have caused some shark species' populations to decline more than 90 percent over just a few generations. Today, a quarter of all shark and ray species are listed as threatened or endangered. An estimated 73 million sharks are killed annually for their fins alone. Shark attacks against humans, by contrast, are exceedingly rare. There were 41 shark attacks against humans in the United States all of last year, none of which were fatal.

Shark finning is also exceedingly cruel. It involves cutting off a shark's fins-often while the shark is still alive-and throwing the mutilated body in the ocean, where the helplessly immobile shark will suffocate, bleed to death, or succumb to an attack by another predator. Shark finning is prohibited in federal waters, but there is currently no nationwide ban on the sale of shark fins. Thirteen states and three US territories have passed bans to stem the shark fin trade within their jurisdictions, however.

Last year, Canada enacted a ban on shark finning and on the import and export of shark fins that aren't naturally attached to the rest of the shark, becoming the first G20 nation to do so. This year, AWI published its first-ever directory of 108 Canadian restaurants serving shark fin. British Columbia and Ontario were tied for having the highest number of restaurants serving shark fin (48).

While Canada's ban represents a significant step forward in protecting sharks, it does not cover the sale, possession, or distribution of shark fins once they are in the country. Fins from sharks who are landed legally with their fins intact (as well as illegally obtained fins that have been brought in undetected) can still be sold across Canada, making their way into shark fin soup.

Over time, many restaurants in Canada are expected to end the sale of shark fin products as fins become harder to source. AWI will continue to conduct annual audits to monitor the situation.

"Maintaining a robust population of sharks at the top of the food chain is crucial to biodiversity," said AWI President Cathy Liss. "Without sharks, the health and productivity of our oceans-and the human livelihoods that depend on them-are at risk. We need sharks in our oceans-not their fins in our bowls. "

Legislation banning the sales of shark fins is pending in Pennsylvania and Connecticut. A bill in Florida is awaiting the governor's signature.

AWI also endorses the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2019, which would make it illegal "to possess, buy, or sell shark fins or any product containing shark fins." The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives in November and is awaiting consideration in the Senate. This federal legislation would enhance existing state bans by preventing shark fins from entering those markets via interstate commerce.

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https://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/sports/extremesports.

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SeaWorld Orlando to debut new killer-whale show at the start of 2020

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SeaWorld Orlando to debut new killer-whale show at the start of 2020

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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/seaworld-orlando-debut-new-killer-whale-show-start-2020-n1106941

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SeaWorld Orlando to debut new killer-whale show - Google Docs

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Ban Whales in aquariums and water parks?

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Ban Whales in aquariums and water parks?

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Just as elephants were retired from Ringling Brothers circus in 2016, several members of Congress have proposed legislation that would prohibit the capture and breeding of certain whale species for public entertainment at theme parks and aquariums.

The legislation would affect animal parks that put orca whales on display, such as those at SeaWorld in San Diego and Florida, as wells as whale shows at several other aquariums and parks across the nation.

The bill's authors say whales are extremely bright, social mammals that need wide ocean expanses to thrive, and that keeping them in enclosures amounts to inhumane treatment and leads to premature death. However, a zoo and aquarium trade organization says the bill is an overreach that would curtail access to sea mammals for many land-locked children.

"Whales are among the most intelligent, fascinating, and beautiful creatures in the world," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, a primary author of the bill, in a prepared statement. "And they deserve to live freely in their natural habitats - not in captivity where their lives are defined by the four walls of a concrete tank."

Schiff teamed up with California members of Congress who have backed environmental legislation in the past, including Reps. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach; Tony Cardenas, D-Los Angeles; Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael; and Congress members from Washington, New York, New Jersey and Tennessee. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, signed onto the legislation, dubbed the Strengthening Welfare in Marine Setting Act (SWIMS), officially introduced on July 26 as H.R. 8514.

Specifically, the bill would ban the capturing, exporting, importing and breeding of orcas, beluga, pilot and false killer whales. Exceptions would be made for whales taken in for research and those living in marine sanctuaries.

About 50 whales are being held in captivity in the U.S., according to the bill's authors.

The authors, as well as nonprofit groups and scientific data say these whales are cognitively, emotionally and socially aware animals with large brains who suffer distress when held in an enclosure for display and separated from their social circle.

"The conditions these whales live in contribute to far shorter lifespans - captive orcas typically live just 12 years compared to 40 years in the wild," said Feinstein in a statement, "and there is significant evidence that captivity is excruciating for these mammals."

What it means for SeaWorld is not clear. The park in Southern California announced in 2016 that the whales currently in captivity will be its last, meaning no more whales would be imported. In addition, California has banned orca breeding in captivity. In 2017, after protests by animal rights groups, the park changed its orca show to one that highlights the whale's natural tendencies to hunt and communicate.

But halting breeding means that SeaWorld's whale exhibit, the "Orca Experience," may soon disappear if new whales can't replace those who die.

SeaWorld summarized its opposition and deferred to others in the business who also oppose the legislation.

"What you'll likely hear from the experts is the legislation is overreaching, misguided and unnecessary," said SeaWorld spokesperson Tracy Spahr in an email to the Southern California News Group. She added that the legislation could threaten research and rescue operations performed at SeaWorld and other parks, work that helps sustain the population of endangered cetaceans.

Other parks and aquariums potentially affected by the bill include the Georgia Aquarium, Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut, Miami Seaquarium and Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

Dan Ashe, president and CEO of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a trade group representing 238 members, said the bill would have unintended consequences.

"When you lose the ability to hold these animals in a healthy responsible environment, you lose the opportunity to learn about them," said Ashe, who was the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 2011 to 2017.

Aquariums and zoos are often called in to rehabilitate sick or injured animals in the wild, and without hands-on learning from those whales in captivity, they'd lose that expertise, Ashe said. "These are leading rescue organizations," he said. "Call SeaWorld. Call the Georgia Aquarium or Shedd. They know how to care for these animals."

Ashe predicted a powerful pushback from his group as well as individual zoos and aquariums who view the bill as part of a radical animal rights agenda to free all captive animals, including those held in zoos.

"Opposition will be broad and strong to this SWIMS Act," he said.

One group that agrees with the bill is the Cetacean Society International, based in West Hartford, Conn. They are lobbying for passage. Whales, dolphins and porpoises are classified as cetaceans, and the society believes they should be protected. The group believes that holding four different whale species in captivity has proven to be harmful.

Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut has a resident beluga whale, and recently imported five whales from a Canadian aquarium but two died, said David Kaplan, president of the Cetacean Society.

Often transporting these magnificent whales in trucks is stressful for the animals. "They are not minnows, not goldfish," said Kaplan. "They are shipping whales by truck. That is barbaric."

Kaplan added, "To put a whale in a concrete tank is very much like putting a human in solitary confinements. It is torture. It is taking an animal out of its element. They get stir-crazy."

Similar bills failed to pass in 2015 and 2016. Some say the 2016 version - specifically focused on orcas - convinced SeaWorld to agree to stop future breeding of the black and white whales. And 2017 protests by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, led to more natural orca show.

But PETA wants to see a ban on captivity and breeding in all 50 states, and is supporting the legislation.

PETA said in a written response: "With no law outside California preventing SeaWorld or any other facility from breeding and exploiting orcas for entertainment, and no law in the country prohibiting the breeding of belugas, false killer whales, and pilot whales, PETA is rallying its members and supporters to support the SWIMS Act, which would prevent more generations of these animals from living and dying in dismal concrete tanks, with nothing to do but swim in circles, beg for dead fish, and lash out at one another in frustration."

Andy Yun, a SeaWorld pass holder from Irvine, said that after seeing the orca show as a kid, he was inspired to help marine biologists track whales off the coast of Washington during a summer program in 2005. His experience with researchers led to several sightings of killer whale pods.

More recently, he said his 8-year-old daughter learned a lot about whales and protecting the ocean environment after visiting SeaWorld. The two experiences go hand-in-hand and the world needs both kinds of encounters, he said.

"It is not black and white," said Yun, 37. "I feel like the pros of allowing the killer whales to be accessible (at a water park or aquarium) can outweigh the cons."

Kathleen Salisbury, who responded to questions about the bill in a tweet, said: "I agree with the bill. Should go on a whale watching tour instead."

Kaplan said the Cetacean Society promoted the first whale watching trips off the coast of Cape Cod in the mid 1970s as alternatives to hunting whales or keeping them in displays for entertainment. Whale watching tours have grown in popularity there and on the West Coast as a way to see whales in the wild, not in an enclosure.

"These majestic marine mammals should be observed and cherished in their natural habitat where they belong, not in captivity," wrote Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Washington, in a statement.

Whale watching tours are offered off the coasts of Long Beach, Newport Beach and Dana Point. These businesses have taken photos of various whale species seen from their boats and have helped with whale rescues.

"There is no one I know who in their right mind thinks it is OK to take whales into captivity," said Gisele Anderson of Capt. Dave's Dana Point Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari, a business operating for 28 years.

"When people can experience them in the wild it is a much better experience all the way around," she said.

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Whale captivity would be banned in aquariums and water parks under proposed federal bill

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SoCal members of Congress led by Rep. Adam Schiff try again to push through a bill to end captivity for whale species kept for public entertainment.

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View the Killer Whales collection on Epic plus over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids.

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Mount Everest Base Camp Weather & Climate

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The best place to see orcas is in their natural habitat-the ocean. Luckily for avid whale watchers, orcas are found in every ocean. From Alaska to the Galapagos Islands, you'll find plenty of open-water opportunities to see these beautiful creatures.

If you're hoping to spot killer whales in the wild, these are some of the best places to see them around the world.

Seattle, Washington

Puget Sound in Seattle is a year-round orca playground. There are two different types of orcas that ply Western Pacific waters: resident and transient orcas.

Seattle is known for its resident orcas living in pods that operate as family units, feeding on salmon, and staying in Puget Sound and nearby coastal waters.

Transient orcas typically travel in small groups of two to six. They're often found in the waters around the West Coast of Canada and the U.S. hunting for seals, sea lions, porpoises, and even gray whales.

You may be able to spot orcas from the shore at Alki Beach in West Seattle, too. In fact, there are multiple points along Puget Sound from which you can sight transient orcas during the fall months and Southern Resident killer whales all year long.
Read: 12 Best Day Trips From Seattle
The San Juan Islands off the coast of northwestern Washington are known for being one of the best places to see orcas in the wild. It's about a 90-minute drive from Seattle to Anacortes, then a short ferry ride across the sound to Friday Harbor, where many whale-watching outfitters leave on daily excursions. There are also whale-watching tours that begin with a flight from Seattle to the San Juan Islands. Whale watching here is one of the best things to do in the Pacific Northwest.

Victoria, British Columbia

Located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, is the Canadian gateway for orca experiences. The city provides easy access to the Salish Sea, where orca pods frequent from May through October.

Board a high-speed sightseeing vessel with a knowledgeable crew who will offer lively commentary about orcas and other whales and wildlife you're likely to see.

Orca-watching tours are available by seaplane from Victoria, where you may catch sight of whales and other wildlife from above. Visit Juan de Fuca and Haro Straits to see three resident Southern Orca pods.

Orcas enjoy a special relationship to this region, making whale-watching one of the top things to do in Victoria. It is evident in the orca sculptures and topiary that you'll see around the city, like at Butchart Gardens.

Vancouver, British Columbia

Across the Strait of Georgia from Victoria, the city of Vancouver is another popular destination to see orcas in the wild. Prime season here also runs from May through October.

In late summer, watch for transient orcas in the Strait of Georgia waters, around the Gulf Islands, and the San Juan Islands.

If you're vacationing on Vancouver Island, orca excursions by kayak or whale-watching boats visit the Broughton Archipelago from Port McNeill, Alert Bay, and Telegraph Cove on the island's northeast coast.

Southeast Alaska

In the Alaskan fishing town of Ketchikan, orcas can be sighted April through June, as they seek meals of Chinook salmon making their way to spawning rivers. You may catch them breaching the water when they've had their fill.

Juneau offers some of the best opportunities to see orcas, as they tend to look for food like seals, swimming moose, and even other types of whales around Stephens Passage.

When visiting Icy Strait Point, the Hoonah ancestors of the Tlingit tribe will tell you of the revered status of orcas in their culture and folktales. On whale-watching tours in late summer, it's possible to spot orcas, along with humpback whales, in Glacier Bay and Icy Strait Point.

In Skagway, you may see orcas when you book an ocean raft wildlife adventure in the Lynn Canal, where they often search and catch sea lions or seals right before your eyes.

If you make your way to Seward, don't miss out on a day trip to Kenai Fjords National Park, where you'll have plenty of opportunities to see orcas in the wild. From mid-May through mid-June, both resident orca pods and transients frequent the waters of Kenai Fjords National Park's Resurrection Bay, gliding by in search of food with their prominent dorsal fin announcing their presence.

Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

During a trip to the Galapagos Islands, you'll likely spot orcas as you make your way around the archipelago near Ecuador.

In addition to the spectacular number of endemic and nesting species, you may be lucky enough to see both resident Galapagos orcas and transient orcas.

Resident orcas live in the temperate waters around the islands all year and feed on the plentiful fish in the area.

Transient orcas arrive in pods and swim around the islands where sea lions typically congregate, such as Egas Point on Santiago Island or Rabida Island. There, they like to prey on penguins, turtles, and even humpback whales.

Auckland, New Zealand

It might come as a surprise that New Zealand ranks as one of the best places to see orcas in the wild. It has a year-round resident population of orcas, with about 150 to 200 orcas often seen traveling along New Zealand's coast.

In Auckland, a pod of resident orcas can be seen from December to March. In Wellington, pods of orcas are found in Wellington Harbor throughout spring and summer, looking for other food sources.

Antarctica

Roughly half of the world's orca population resides in Antarctica for at least part of the year, so it's no surprise that it's one of the best places to see orcas in the wild. It's estimated that 25,000 orcas ply the iceberg-laden waters around Cape Horn, Gerlache Strait, Paradise Bay, and Schollart Channel.
Read: Most Extraordinary Wildlife in Antarctica
Ushuaia, Chile

From December to March, it's possible to see orcas cutting through the waves of the Beagle Channel or crashing into icebergs near Ushuaia to force unsuspecting sea lions and penguins to fall into the water as prey.

Puerto Madryn, Argentina

In Puerto Madryn, Argentina, orcas are present but sometimes stealthily hide. Locally, their nickname is lobos (wolves). They beach themselves at high tide in order to capture sea lion pups.

Visit Caleta Valdes for possible orca sightings and to learn about the wildlife and conservation efforts of the Peninsula Valdes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Monterey, California

Orcas are constantly passing through the Pacific waters of Monterey Bay on their way north to even colder waters, making whale watching one of the best things to do in Monterey. The best time to spot orcas is mid-April through mid-May and August through October, though you can experience a whale-watching Zodiac boat tour year-round.
Read: Fun Things to Do in Monterey With Kids
Book an unforgettable cruise vacation to one of the best places to see orcas with Celebrity Cruises. Browse all of our cruise itineraries online and start planning your next vacation aboard one of our luxury cruise ships.

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Best Place To See Orcas In The Wild | Celebrity Cruises

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Discover the best place to see orcas in the wild. Witness these majestic creatures during your next vacation.

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Mount Everest Animals - What To Expect? - Everestar

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For years, the Mount Everest animals have intrigued researchers and zoologists around the world. Read on to know more about these exotic creatures.

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The Whale Sanctuary Project | Back to Nature

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Tomorrow, January 1st, 2020, SeaWorld Orlando will replace its "One Ocean" orca show with a new "Orca Encounter" that's billed as being less showy and more educational. What does this new production mean for the orcas?

The new show has been playing at SeaWorld San Diego for two years, and soon after it opened, it was filmed by "Behind the Thrills," a website about theme parks and attractions. Parts of the show have been revised since then, largely because many SeaWorld aficionados complained that it was dull compared to the old show. But the video below is still essentially what people will see when it opens in Orlando (and soon, according to SeaWorld, in San Antonio).

Here's the complete show. It runs just over 25 minutes:

Behind the display tank where the orcas perform, you see a large projection screen picturing an ocean scene with orcas swimming close to shore. It's designed so that the display tank almost looks connected to the ocean scene. And as the screen shows orcas breaching, spy-hopping and working together in the ocean, the whales in the tank are trained to display similar behaviors.

Discussing the opening in Orlando, SeaWorld's chief zoological officer Chris Dold writes:

"Guests will learn about killer whales' role in the ocean ecosystem, behaviors the animals exhibit in the wild, the importance of conservation to their habitat and animal welfare practices at SeaWorld. This educational presentation reflects our company's mission to inspire people and protect the animals and wild wonders of our world through education, research, animal rescue and conservation."

But however much the display tank is designed to look like an extension of the ocean background, it's still nothing more than a small space that the captive whales can circle in just a few seconds. And you can't help but notice that the second whale to go around the pool has a collapsed dorsal fin - a common condition among captive male orcas. (It's caused by the fact that they spend most of their lives simply logging on the surface of the water for hours and hours with nothing to keep that dorsal fin from eventually collapsing.)

As for education, the projection screen tells you some facts about orcas around the world, but the orcas in the tank can tell you nothing about life in the ocean. Instead, you can only imagine what it must be like being confined to a barren, claustrophobic tank where their primary form of communication - echolocation - just bounces back at them from the smooth, deadening walls of their prison.

For the orcas on display, nothing has changed. And while SeaWorld touts the new show as being educational and promoting conservation, the one thing the company does not address at all is whether or how their new show has made life any better for the animals themselves.

But it's all plain to see from the video itself: Very simply, for the orcas on display, nothing has changed. They're still totally captive in a concrete tank performing tricks in exchange for being fed. It's a life of utter tedium, as described in this article by Lori Marino, Founder and President of the Whale Sanctuary Project and a leading expert on the brains of whales and dolphins:

"The chronic stress of trying to adapt to such a barren and artificial environment leads to psychological and behavioral abnormalities that eventually wear down the whales' immune system, resulting in increased infection rates and early death.

"Common behavioral problems include stereotypies - repetitive actions without purpose, e.g. endless circling of the tank, grating the teeth on tank walls and gates. The result of the latter is that 61 percent of captive orcas have dental pathology so that their teeth must be drilled out and then rinsed daily to try to prevent infection."

For the orcas, then, what's new is old: an endless repetition of the same daily routine in a small, empty world devoid of the rich experiences and complex relationships they would have known in the ocean that's portrayed on a two-dimensional screen behind them.

And what of the young people being "educated" by this show? What are they actually learning? Primarily, and regardless of whatever other messages may be being displayed, that it's OK to treat our fellow animals this way and that they exist for our benefit and entertainment.

Basically, it's a message of dominance and power. And in particular, when the victims are orcas, it's a message to young people that we are superior even to the capstone species of the ocean. "You orcas may be the kings and queens of the ocean," we learn as we leave the stadium, "but when all's said and done, the fact is you're the ones who'll be staying here in the tank."

More than ever, we need to be offering our children a different kind of education: one that demonstrates a more authentic and humble relationship to our fellow animals; one that would promote an attitude of redress and reconciliation and that would give back to them, in the form of a seaside sanctuary, something of the life that's been taken from them.

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What Does SeaWorld's New "Orca Encounter" Teach Us? | The Whale Sanctuary Project | Back to Nature

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Tomorrow, January 1st, 2020, SeaWorld Orlando will replace its "One Ocean" orca show with a new "Orca Encounter" that's billed as being less showy and more educational. What does this new production mean for the orcas?

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Photo courtesy of Unsplash

On March 10th, 2023, Kiska, the "world's loneliest orca" passed away at the age of 47 at MarineLand, Canada. She was Canada's last captive orca and lived alone in her tank for 11 years, following the deaths of her five calves and the loss of her tank mates. More about her story can be found here . Her death sparked outrage regarding the issues surrounding the utilization of killer whales for entertainment, serving as a reminder of why such free-ranging, intelligent, and emotionally complex animals should not be taken from their natural habitat to be placed in captivity.

In the wild, male killer whales live for an average of 30 years, sometimes up to 60 years. For a female orca in the wild, the average life expectancy is 50 years, though some can live up to 80 or 90. Out in the oceans, orcas live in pods made up of extended family members that they form close bonds with, and together they share the responsibility of hunting, raising their young, and taking care of the sick or injured. Because of their social nature and need for open spaces for playing, hunting, and migrating, many issues have arisen surrounding the captivity of orcas for entertainment purposes. In the U.S., marine parks like SeaWorld San Diego, SeaWorld Orlando, and Miami Seaquarium all currently keep orcas.

In the past, the federal government issued permits for display facilities in the U.S. to legally import or capture orcas, but the wild capture of an orca in U.S. waters has not occurred since 1976. Instead, most facilities rely on breeding captive orcas to maintain their populations. The U.S. currently does not have federal legislation prohibiting the captivity of orcas, instead, legislation such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA ) and the Animal Welfare Act (AWA ) instruct how facilities should house killer whales.

Recently, states have been taking up the responsibility to establish their own laws surrounding orca captivity. California passed the California Orca Protection Act in 2016, which states that it is illegal to "hold in captivity an orca, whether wild-caught or captive-bred, for any purpose, including, but not limited to, display, performance, or entertainment purposes." This law has helped phase out the use of orcas in shows and has halted orca breeding programs in the state of California. In 2017, a federal bill was introduced titled the Orca Responsibility and Care Act (ORCA ) to amend both the MMPA and the AWA to prohibit the taking, importing, and exporting of killer whales for entertainment purposes. If passed, it would be unlawful for any marine park in the U.S. to keep orcas in captivity for display. The SWIMS Act of 2022 takes it a step further, addressing not only killer whales, but beluga whales and pilot whales as well. If this bill is passed, it would amend the MMPA and prohibit the captivity and breeding of all these whales for public display.

Though legislation has been taking positive steps toward phasing out the captivity of killer whales, these mammals still face threats out in the open ocean, such as chemical contaminants, sound pollution, lack of prey, and becoming bycatch from fishing nets. If you're looking for simple ways to help, making it a priority to follow eco-friendly boating practices can keep waters clear of toxic chemicals. Another way you can help is by being mindful of sustainable seafood options. Killer whales, specifically Southern resident orcas, rely almost exclusively on Chinook salmon (or King salmon), which are facing scarcity due to the effects of climate change. So consider buying more sustainable types of salmon, such as pink salmon , or maybe even consuming less fish each week.

In addition to being sentient, extremely intelligent, and emotionally connected to their pod members in complex ways, killer whales are also considered apex predators, so they face little natural threats. However, anthropogenic activity poses significant risks to their well-being and their populations, risks they haven't had to face in the past. The protection and survival of this species lies not only in the hands of lawmakers, but in every individual that utilizes the oceans.

References

Clean boating: Best Practices for Boaters . Discover Boating. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.discoverboating.com/resources/clean-boating-best-practices-for-boaters

H.R.8514 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): SWIMS Act of 2022. (2022, August 29). https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8514

Photo courtesy of Unsplash

On March 10th, 2023, Kiska, the "world's loneliest orca" passed away at the age of 47 at MarineLand, Canada. She was Canada's last captive orca and lived alone in her tank for 11 years, following the deaths of her five calves and the loss of her tank mates. More about her story can be found here . Her death sparked outrage regarding the issues surrounding the utilization of killer whales for entertainment, serving as a reminder of why such free-ranging, intelligent, and emotionally complex animals should not be taken from their natural habitat to be placed in captivity.

In the wild, male killer whales live for an average of 30 years, sometimes up to 60 years. For a female orca in the wild, the average life expectancy is 50 years, though some can live up to 80 or 90. Out in the oceans, orcas live in pods made up of extended family members that they form close bonds with, and together they share the responsibility of hunting, raising their young, and taking care of the sick or injured. Because of their social nature and need for open spaces for playing, hunting, and migrating, many issues have arisen surrounding the captivity of orcas for entertainment purposes. In the U.S., marine parks like SeaWorld San Diego, SeaWorld Orlando, and Miami Seaquarium all currently keep orcas.

In the past, the federal government issued permits for display facilities in the U.S. to legally import or capture orcas, but the wild capture of an orca in U.S. waters has not occurred since 1976. Instead, most facilities rely on breeding captive orcas to maintain their populations. The U.S. currently does not have federal legislation prohibiting the captivity of orcas, instead, legislation such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA ) and the Animal Welfare Act (AWA ) instruct how facilities should house killer whales.

Recently, states have been taking up the responsibility to establish their own laws surrounding orca captivity. California passed the California Orca Protection Act in 2016, which states that it is illegal to "hold in captivity an orca, whether wild-caught or captive-bred, for any purpose, including, but not limited to, display, performance, or entertainment purposes." This law has helped phase out the use of orcas in shows and has halted orca breeding programs in the state of California. In 2017, a federal bill was introduced titled the Orca Responsibility and Care Act (ORCA ) to amend both the MMPA and the AWA to prohibit the taking, importing, and exporting of killer whales for entertainment purposes. If passed, it would be unlawful for any marine park in the U.S. to keep orcas in captivity for display. The SWIMS Act of 2022 takes it a step further, addressing not only killer whales, but beluga whales and pilot whales as well. If this bill is passed, it would amend the MMPA and prohibit the captivity and breeding of all these whales for public display.

Though legislation has been taking positive steps toward phasing out the captivity of killer whales, these mammals still face threats out in the open ocean, such as chemical contaminants, sound pollution, lack of prey, and becoming bycatch from fishing nets. If you're looking for simple ways to help, making it a priority to follow eco-friendly boating practices can keep waters clear of toxic chemicals. Another way you can help is by being mindful of sustainable seafood options. Killer whales, specifically Southern resident orcas, rely almost exclusively on Chinook salmon (or King salmon), which are facing scarcity due to the effects of climate change. So consider buying more sustainable types of salmon, such as pink salmon , or maybe even consuming less fish each week.

In addition to being sentient, extremely intelligent, and emotionally connected to their pod members in complex ways, killer whales are also considered apex predators, so they face little natural threats. However, anthropogenic activity poses significant risks to their well-being and their populations, risks they haven't had to face in the past. The protection and survival of this species lies not only in the hands of lawmakers, but in every individual that utilizes the oceans.

References

Clean boating: Best Practices for Boaters . Discover Boating. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.discoverboating.com/resources/clean-boating-best-practices-for-boaters

H.R.8514 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): SWIMS Act of 2022. (2022, August 29). https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8514

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Freeing Killer Whales Through Legislation

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Photo courtesy of Unsplash On March 10th, 2023, Kiska, the "world's loneliest orca" passed away at the age of 47 at MarineLand, Canada. She was Canada's last captive orca and lived alone in her tank for 11 years, following the deaths of her five calves and the loss of her tank mates.

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The Whale Sanctuary Project | Back to Nature

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Dr. Lori Marino, President of the Whale Sanctuary Project, is the lead author of a new peer-reviewed paper on "The Harmful Effects of Captivity and Chronic Stress on the Well-Being of Orcas."
June 24, 2019: A paper published today in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior assembles an unprecedented body of evidence to support a clear link between chronic stress and high morbidity and mortality in captive orcas. (Download the complete paper here.)

The paper demonstrates that the poor well-being and high mortality rates of orcas (killer whales) in captive facilities can be explained by known effects of chronic stress and its association with immune system dysfunction, disease and disorder in mammals.

A clear link between chronic stress and high morbidity and mortality. The paper represents a unique collaboration among marine mammal researchers, veterinarians and physicians, who have applied well-accepted scientific models of chronic stress in humans and other animals to extensive evidence for insufficient well-being of orcas living in concrete tanks.

The authors review the neuroscientific, cognitive, behavioral, ecological and physiological make-up of orcas and explicate how each of five inter-related situations inherent to living in marine theme parks and aquariums (social stress, confinement, sensory disturbance, lack of control and boredom) are related to chronic stress and disorders. Examples include:

Social: Artificially-formed social groups and frequent transfers in and out of facilities disrupt mother-calf bonds, perpetuating a cross-generational cycle of poor maternal care and negative impacts;

Confinement: Inadequate depth and horizontal space in tanks prevent the expression of species-specific movement and lead to behavioral anomalies and physiological de-conditioning;

Sensory disturbance: Exposure to loud artificial sounds both above and below the water surface e.g., fireworks, audience noise, construction and filtration system noise creates anxiety and sensory interruption. Additionally, the concrete tank walls create an abnormal acoustic environment;

Lack of control: Loss of autonomy and control over daily activities leads to the well-known stress-related psychological condition known as learned helplessness, which manifests as depression, lack of motivation, impaired learning, anorexia, and eventual immunocompromise;

Boredom: Daily monotony and lack of appropriate challenges in such a large-brained complex animal, lead to immobility (increased logging behavior on the surface), depression, irritability and increased anxiety.

"The scientific evidence has been building over the years showing that orcas fare poorly in concrete tanks because of the mismatch between their natural adaptations and life in these facilities," said neuroscientist Dr. Lori Marino, senior author on the paper.

The authors bring expertise in both marine mammal and human clinical science to articulate a reasonable, empirically-based account of a link between chronic stress and increased morbidity and mortality in orcas kept in concrete tanks.

They demonstrate that because of the intelligence and social complexity of orcas, life in marine theme parks and aquariums is fundamentally at odds with their nature and that a new paradigm is required in their treatment in order to better meet their complex needs.

"Intelligence - meaning cognitive complexity - can be a liability, rather than a buffer, for these animals as they attempt to cope with life in artificial barren settings," Dr. Marino said.

The authors conclude that increased access to veterinary records would allow this model to be more directly tested for this species.

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Effects of Chronic Stress on Captive Orcas - The Whale Sanctuary Project | Back to Nature

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Dr. Lori Marino, President of the Whale Sanctuary Project, is the lead author of a new peer-reviewed paper on "The Harmful Effects of Captivity and Chronic Stress on the Well-Being of Orcas." June 24, 2019: A paper published today in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior assembles an unprecedented body of evidence to support a clear link between chronic stress and high morbidity and mortality in captive orcas.

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Sharks, especially great whites, were catapulted into the public eye with the release of the film Jaws in the summer of 1975. The film is the story of a massive great white that terrorises a seaside community, and the image of the cover alone-the exposed jaws of a massive shark rising upward in murky water-is enough to inject fear into the hearts of would-be swimmers. Other thrillers have perpetuated the theme of sharks as villans.

But where did our fear of sharks come from, and how far back does it go? That and other shark-related inquiries are answered below.
Why are people afraid of sharks?
"The question implies they shouldn't be," says David Ropeik, a consultant on risk perception and author of the book How Risky Is It, Really? Why Our Fears Don't Always Match the Facts.

A fear of sharks, or galeophobia, is not irrational, says marine biologist Blake Chapman, a shark expert at the University of Queensland in Australia. Simply put, the predatory fish are scary. Great whites, for example-the species Hollywood immortalised as mindless killers-have mouths lined with several rows of up to 300 dagger-like teeth that can easily shred through prey. They can also sense tiny electromagnetic fields put out into water by other animals, which helps them scope out their next meal.

But we're not necessarily afraid of sharks upfront, and the animals are diverse. There are more than 465 known species of sharks, and they can range in size from the 7-inch spined pygmy shark to the 50-foot-long whale shark. Many of these cartilaginous swimmers eat fish, crustaceans, molluscs, plankton, krill, marine mammals, and other sharks-in short, humans are not on the menu.

Rather, Ropeik says, we're terrified of how sharks could kill us. Being eaten alive by a 15-foot-long tiger shark seems like a painful way to suffer through death, and we dread the possibility that a shark attack could be the thing that kills us.

You're more likely to be crushed to death under a falling vending machine in your office, or a cow that collapses on you in a field than you are to die in the jaws of a shark. But fears don't necessarily match facts, and the fear of being attacked by a shark is more about our emotional response than the reality.

Most of all, we're afraid of losing control. If you're swimming in shark-inhabited water, you don't want the jaws of a mysterious predator to clamp down on you and determine your fate.

"The idea of being munched on by an animal that is in control is another factor," Ropeik says. "It's the nature of the experience, and not the agent, per say."
Where did this fear come from?
Fear is not necessarily something we're born with, but it's something we have developed over time. Infants aren't afraid of snakes and heights, but as adults, our brains become more sensitive to fearful stimuli.

But boy, did our ancestors have a lot to be afraid of! Think back to how ancient people would have survived in their primitive habitats. They would have avoided tall cliffs and wild animals because they knew those threats could potentially kill them, and that's what kept them alive. They learned fear as an adaptation to protect themselves.

"Fear is something that we've inherited from our early ancestors," Chapman says. "[Sharks] are an animal. Biological things like animals are something that we're very prone to fear."
Sharks still seem pretty scary. What are the chances they could kill me?

In writing her book, Shark Attacks: Myths, Misunderstandings and Human Fear, Chapman found that the human brain tends to oversimplify numbers. If I tell you there's a one in 3,748,067 chance you could be attacked and killed by a shark, that number is too abstract for your brain to be sensitive to it. (If I tell you humans kill about 100 million sharks each year, it could be difficult to process that, as well.)

The chances of you being eaten alive by a shark are highly unlikely. You're more likely to die by a dog attack, lightning strike, or car crash. Cancer and heart disease are also way more likely to kill you.

The slim chances that a shark attack could happen to us are irrelevant. We hear of the word "shark" and we can't help but immediately fill in the blank after it with "attack."

"While we can sense fear and we can interpret fear, the actual feeling of fear is completely outside of our control," Chapman says.
OK, but what can I do to fight my fear of sharks?
There are a few ways you can make yourself less afraid of sharks. You can give yourself the illusion of control, because when you don't feel in control, things seem scarier.

To do this, you can read up on what kinds of sharks live in the water you're about to swim in, or learn about which species of shark have been known to go after humans. (Pro tip: blacktip and spinner sharks sometimes mistake humans for prey.)

If you swim in clear water, you can give yourself the illusion of being in control if you did spot a shark. ( Great whites can reach speeds 10 times faster than typical humans, so logically, if one of these sharks were to come toward you, you wouldn't have time to escape it. But it's more than likely they would spit you back out.)

To avoid a shark attack, you can also learn how to not be shark bait by avoiding swimming if you're bleeding or lying on a surfboard. (Sharks commonly go after seals, and from below, a surfboard can look like a seal.) You can also avoid spear fishing, because skewering fish sends out electric signals that can attract sharks.

In the unlikely event that you are attacked by a shark, experts say it's best to fight back. Chapman recommends going for its eyes or gills if possible. If you can give yourself a sense of control, you feel like you're in less danger.
Why is it important we still care about sharks?
Chapman says that yes, the number of shark attacks per year is increasing, but this isn't in line with the skyrocketing human population. Of the 80-odd shark attacks that happen each year, fatality rates are decreasing thanks to improving medicine and medical response time.

It's difficult to count sharks, Chapman says, but it appears their numbers are decreasing. To meet the demand for shark fin soup, some fishermen in Asia will catch sharks, chop off their fins, and then release them back into the water to die. Sharks are also unintentionally caught as bycatch.

The animals are important to oceanic food chains, and sharks keep ecosystems in line. Studies have shown that shark populations can have an effect on sea grass composition and the presence of other animals in a habitat. Sharks are also being studied for cancer treatments and limb regeneration.

The benefits of having sharks around far outweigh the negatives.

"They are such survivors, they've evolved to basically survive under any stress," Chapman says.

This story was first published on January 26, 2018 and updated on June 27, 2019.

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Why are we afraid of sharks? There's a scientific explanation.

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Sharks, especially great whites, were catapulted into the public eye with the release of the film Jaws in the summer of 1975. The film is the story of a massive great white that terrorises a seaside community, and the image of the cover alone-the exposed jaws of a massive shark rising upward in murky water-is enough to inject fear into the hearts of would-be swimmers.

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What Animal kills the Most Humans, per year?

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What Animal kills the Most Humans, per year?