No, whales aren’t typically dangerous.
Actually for the most part whales are generally curious and friendly oceanic creatures.
In some cases they can even be seen approaching boats in an attempt to understand what’s going on.
Those that aren’t particularly curious are often solitary and shy.
Because whales are too large to be held in captivity and live far away from land most of our close interactions with the cetacean species involves spending time with dolphins.
Note: The cetacean species consists of all species of whale, dolphin and porpoise.
Some species of dolphin (including the killer whale) can be seen performing shows at local aquariums and marine parks and interacting with people on a daily basis.
Due to the fact that they are highly intelligent and friendly to people dolphins have become a staple for people who enjoy exploring and studying marine mammals.
100’s of videos have also been taken of researchers, marine biologists, scientists and divers swimming along side various whale species and interacting with them.
Despite stories such as Moby Dick (a great book) and the very occasional known attacks that are made by killer whale (killer whales are dolphins, not whales) it is very unlikely that a human will be attacked by a whale.
In fact if you did a search in Google for “humans killed by whales” it is unlikely you’ll find many (if any) stories regarding humans being attacked or killed by a whale.
It is more likely that you will run into a story or two about a killer whale in captivity (which again is actually a dolphin, not a whale) attacking and killing its trainer.
Trainers that have been attacked have been known to die from drowning by being pulled underneath the water, not by being eaten.
Even these cases of killer whale attacks are very rare and are believed to be primarily isolated to a handful of attacks during training sessions and a performance.
You are also more likely to run into articles that speak against humans killing whales as opposed to whales killing humans.
In fact there are no records of a whale ever eating or swallowing a person either partially or completely.
Millions of people enjoy watching whales and dolphins play in their natural habitat and some people have even become very close to them as they interact with them on a daily basis.
Since the early 1900’s whale watching (the act of watching whales in their natural habitat) has continued to grow in popularly and has become a billion dollar business world-wide with thousands of people lining up annually for a chance to watch these beautiful majestic creatures live their lives in their natural environment.
With that said people should never approach a whale when in the ocean without the supervision of an expert or trainer.
This includes approaching whales by boat or with the use of diving equipment.
In some countries it is illegal to go within a certain distance of a whale as they are a protected species.
6 Reasons you’ll probably never be attack by a whale
Below we’ve put together 10 reasons that you’ll likely never be harmed or eaten by a whale.
1) Whales generally live in deep oceanic waters that are far from the coastline where people tend to be.
In most cases people will never be close enough to a whale in order to be harmed by one.
On the other hand other cetaceans such as dolphins and porpoises may be more common in shallower waters, but these marine mammals aren’t known for being aggressive or unfriendly unless they’ve been harmed by people in the past.
2) Most whales consume a diet consisting of small prey such as fish or krill and aren’t known for consuming marine mammals or larger forms of prey, which means you’re most likely off the menu as you are not a part of their standard diet and don’t fit anywhere on their food chain.
3) Most whale species have throats that are fairly small and incapable of swallowing large objects such as humans and the majority of whales that have teeth only use their teeth to show aggression/dominance towards other whales or to grab onto small fish and other prey.
In other words most whales aren’t designed for chewing hard bone and large objects such as humans.
4) Some cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) are known for their outgoing and positive nature and a number of dolphin species have been known to even help people lost at sea and come up to people in order to play.
While many of the larger whale species may not be able to be as playful with humans they’re generally very solitary toward peoples and in some cases have even been observed being gentle and careful when around human swimmers in order to make sure they are uninjured as they swim alongside the whale.
5) Humans do not resemble or taste like any of the foods whales are used to consuming.
In fact species such as the killer whale (which does hunt marine mammals) has never shown an interest in eating humans or consuming their flesh despite being one of the few cetaceans capable of successfully killing and/or eating a human.
While killer whales can be dangerous they rare ever attack humans in the wild and appear to be fairly tolerant of humans.
When they do they occasionally attack a human they usually stop pursuit once they realize the human is not a part of their diet.
These attacks are extremely rare with only a handful of recorded cases being observed over the last several decades.
Despite the rarity of these attacks you should never approach a killer whale in the wild or attempt to engage with them.
6) One of the few species of cetacea that are likely capable of swallowing a human whole due to its abnormally large throat is the sperm whale.
While this large marine mammal is known for swallowing giant squid (some squid can reach 40 ft. long) it typically hunts for food that is thousands of miles below the surface of the water, which is much deeper than any human can successfully dive, so it is unlikely that a human would be swallowed up by a sperm whale.