In 1960, sportsmen in Campbell River, British Columbia, complained so often to fisheries personnel about local orcas consuming salmon and posing a hazard to boaters that a machine gun was installed to kill or drive away the whales. The gun was never fired, but its placement reflected the attitude of the day. The killer whale has been hunted in certain parts of the world. In Norway 250 animals were taken in 1970, in Japan 50 are taken each year and they are also fished in Korea and Iceland. Russian whalers have always taken killer whales in Antarctica, catching a record number of 916 in 1980.
Habitat degradation is the greatest threat facing orcas.
Oil spills and other environmental disasters not only harm the whales, but they affect the entire food chain. Seemingly harmless activities like inland building can ruin the watersheds that fresh-water spawning fish rely on, creating increased competition between orcas and other marine mammals for food. Another threat to killer whales, especially those that eat other marine mammals, is human-made toxins. Killer whales have registered high levels of industrial toxins in some parts of the world. These toxins move up the food chain, becoming more and more concentrated as they are consumed by higher predators such as killer whales.