Orca Revenge in History and Pop Culture
The concept of orca revenge is deeper than vaguely anti-capitalist memes
Digitally connected humanity is fascinated with the orcas of Portugal that are attacking recreational boats, specifically their rudders, with increasing intensity since 2020. The attacks even appear to be spreading with the most recent instances 2,000 miles away off Scotland. While the exact reason is not confirmed, comments from Alfredo López Fernandez (a biologist of the University of Aveiro) has ignited imaginations around the world with his comments to LiveScience:
“The orcas are doing this on purpose, of course, we don't know the origin or the motivation, but defensive behavior based on trauma, as the origin of all this, gains more strength for us every day," López Fernandez said.
Experts suspect that a female orca they call White Gladis suffered a "critical moment of agony" — a collision with a boat or entrapment during illegal fishing — that flipped a behavioral switch. "That traumatized orca is the one that started this behavior of physical contact with the boat," López Fernandez said.”
Revenge, i.e., “the action of inflicting hurt or harm on someone for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands.” One of humanity’s most compelling storylines and most powerful motivators. I don’t have any insight into whether or not these particular orcas led by their possibly traumatized warlord White Gladis are acting out of revenge or not. I will say, I’ve seen no hard evidence of this other than Fernandez’s self confessed guessing. Even the details of White Gadis’ traumatizing boat incident, or even if there was one at all, appears speculative, not documented fact.
But! Let us examine the concept of orcas enacting revenge. Is it possible?
Friendship and Betrayal in Eden, Australia
Have we documented or observed orcas enacting revenge upon us? Let’s set aside the three people killed by Tilikum as featured by Sea World documentary Blackfish, of which much has already been talked about. Gentle reminder, the tyrannosaurus of Jurassic Park only ate one person the whole movie.
One of the most amazing orca documentaries I’ve ever seen is PBS NATURE’s Killers in Eden. This incredible documentary tells the story of Eden, Australia’s whaling days. The town was once an epicenter of whaling that preyed upon the baleen whales migrating to and from Antarctica. Remarkably, historical accounts tell of a local pod of orcas that aided the whalers in the hunting of their quarry. The symbiosis was perfect, as the orcas only ate the tongue and lower jaw of the hunted whales and the whalers were after the valuable oil. A strict “Law of the Tongue” was observed, where after the kill the whalers waited respectfully for the orcas to dine before towing the whale back to town for processing.
This all sounds almost too incredible to believe, especially if the only source was a mention in a deceased yarn weaver’s journal. However, the documentary stands out for getting these stories directly from living townsfolk who were alive to witness the history. According to the multiple sources interviewed, the orcas were involved in every part of the hunt. The killer whales would tail slap to notify the whalers in town when quarry was near. They’d lead the whalers to their prey and exhaust it, moving aside for the killer harpoon thrust to end the hunt. The interviewed townspeople even claim the orcas circled to protect the whalers from sharks whenever a boat capsized during the action.
One of the most loyal orcas, named Tom, is accredited with finding the body of a man named Jack who went missing for several days after a family’s dinghy capsized in a storm. Tom reportedly circled a particular location in the bay for days until observers went to check it out. Sure enough, Jack’s body was where Tom had been circling. Remarkably Tom swam alongside Jack’s funeral motorboat “like an honor guard”. The story is told by several of the interviewed in the documentary.
The human-orca whaling relationship of the town lasted for around 100 years. There’s evidence that the relationship predated the arrival of the Europeans, originally established by the local Aboriginal peoples who regarded the orcas as sacred.
It was not to last. According to the town’s story, a greedy out-of-towner named Harry Silks killed one of the orcas who was stranded on the beach during a struggle with a minke whale. The orca’s death caused an uproar. Silks fled town under threat of death. The Aborigines severed ties with Eden, leaving it entirely. According to the local sources, the orcas also vanished besides a handful that had a strong bond with townsperson George, including loyal Tom. Sadly, George and Tom’s relationship would be tested to failure in a later incident involving violation of the Law of the Tongue. The skeleton of Tom is on display in a local museum, his teeth damaged with deep grooves where he allegedly dragged lines during hunts.
The firsthand and documented accounts of this intense, complex human-orca relationship of Eden does not feature violent orca revenge. But it does demonstrate that orca populations may respond to our behavior almost like diplomacy between human tribes. Cultural norms such as coordinated hunts with the Law of the Tongue and individual relationships like the one between Tom the orca and George the whaler do seem eerily familiar and, well, human-like.
Orca. Is it about the whale or us?
The year was 1977, two years after the legendary blockbuster debut of Jaws, when the ultimate orca revenge movie was released to theaters. Orca was directed by Michael Anderson, produced by Dino de Laurentis, and starred Richard Harris long before his Dumbledore days. Filmed mostly in Newfoundland after reported internal conversations to “find a fish tougher and more terrible than Jaws”, the movie centers around Harris playing orca-killing Captain Nolan who is hunted by an orca avenging his slain (pregnant) mate. Spoiler, there is a bloody orca fetus and Harris dueling an of-the-era practical effects killer whale on the arctic sea ice in this film. The epic trailer intro from the narrator says it all:
“The ancient Romans called him orca orcinus, latin for bringer of death. He is without challenge the most powerful animal on the globe—the killer whale. Orca has 48 teeth, set in two impressive rows. In some respects, the orca’s intelligence may be even superior to man’s. They remain loyal to one mate for life. As parents, they are exemplary, better than many human beings, and like human beings, they have a profound instinct… FOR VENGEANCE.”
Largely panned as a Jaws wannabe made of mashed up scraps of better horror movies, I have a weakness for Orca. It’s a very fun campy watch with friends, which is certainly not what the makers of this film were going for with its overly serious tone and a legitimately excellent performance by Harris who really gives it his all. Nothing is so glorious as seeing an incredible actor scream “What are you?!” at a robot killer whale. The appearance of actor Will Sampson, who played Chief in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, inspires me to think of Orca as a sequel. Maybe warning Captain Nolan about orca revenge was Chief’s fate after he escaped from the insane asylum.
Does the existence of the movie Orca give us much insight into the real-world orca boat attacks? No, not really. However, stories are a reflection of ourselves. Perhaps Orca is less about sea mammal behavior and more about us. We are the ones who fear the wrath of a righteously vengeful orca within the depths of our consciousness and craft a horrifying narrative to fixate upon. Even the movie setup establishes orcas as superior to us, as more intelligent and better mates and parents, and worthy punishers of the wicked. Us.
What does that say about us? Perhaps we carry internalized guilt and self loathing accompanied by a mix of fear and desire for righteous punishment for moral trespass or hubris. We’re getting into religious fixations on apocalypse, original sin, and End Times now. Why does Fernandez, a biologist, deviate from the strictly scientific realm to speculate on revenge almost more like a philosopher, murder detective, or tea leaf divinator might? Perhaps we see revenge where it doesn’t exist because humans see the world through the lens of vengeance and punishment. The orca, bringer of death, seeks revenge because, if I was that orca, I would seek revenge! Maybe we are both fearful and excited by vengeance because we are so motivated by it.
If we look to the falling out with the orcas of Eden, coordinated revenge is still very much in the human realm. In response to betrayal, the orcas simply left. A marine scientist in the documentary contextualizes the orcas’ exit with the macrolevel picture. The whaling industry was in its last years due to overhunting and there might not have been enough to go around for the orcas to survive anyway.
In a world of orca revenge, Old Tom would’ve rallied his orca mates and ambushed the whalers on their small boats, dispatching dozens of them with ease. The orcas certainly demonstrated the brain power and physical might to pull off such a coup. But no. They simply moved on to hunt elsewhere.