Do Dolphins Eat People? | A Brief Overview

No, dolphins do not eat people.

Despite stories and various forms of fiction showing dolphins (mainly the killer whale) and whales (such as the blue whale and sperm whale) as man-eating marine mammals, most dolphins are very friendly.

Less social dolphins tend to be more distant and shy, often staying away from humans.

Although the killer whale is called a “killer whale,” it belongs to the dolphin family.

This marine mammal gets its name from its large size (killer whales can grow between 15 – 30 ft. long) and its diet.

The killer whale is the largest of the dolphin species, hence the “whale” part of its name.

While the killer whale can be observed eating fish, squid, and octopus along with large animals such as sea lions, seals, walruses, penguins, and dolphins (yes, they eat dolphins), whales do not appear to have any desire to eat humans.

There has never been a case of a killer whale eating a person either wholly or partially.

Although these marine mammals do not eat humans, there have been several cases where killer whales performing at aquatic shows grabbed onto a trainer’s clothing, hair, or limbs and pulled them underwater.

However, the killer whale never tried to consume or eat that person in these cases.

Some people believe that killer whales are likely to become aggressive in these enclosed aquariums and may lash out over time due to isolation from their species and the ocean.

While these attacks are rare, they have happened.

Killer whales are an extremely social and protective species and rarely separate from their pods except to find food and mate, so it is understandable that these marine mammals may become aggressive when kept isolated in a small unnatural environment for long periods.

Since a previous case involving a trainer drowned by a killer whale, trainers are no longer allowed to climb into the tank with killer whales while performing to prevent any chance of them pulling a trainer underwater.

In regards to killer whales that live in the ocean, there are only a small handful of known attacks on humans, and these attacks appear to be the result of the killer whale confusing a human for another type of prey.

Once these marine mammals realized it was not their regular food, they stopped pursuing the person.

As stated earlier, while these events have been known to occur occasionally, most dolphin species are generally friendly and curious.

There have even been cases of dolphins protecting humans during shark attacks, as well as situations where dolphins have been observed helping humans find their way back to land when they are lost.

Even the military has been known to train dolphins to find missing people at sea and detect underwater land mines.

Aside from the friendly nature of the dolphin species, most dolphins (other than the killer whale and false killer whale) would be unable to consume a human due to their small size and diet, as most species stick to a diet consisting primarily of fish, squid, octopus, and crustaceans.

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