page_title: Killer whale attack
section_title: 1970s
hierarchical_section_title: Killer whale attack / Incidents with wild orcas / 1970s
caption_attribution_description: English: Point Sur as seen from the north on Highway 1 south of Carmel, CA, USA.
context_page_description: Killer whales are powerful predators capable of killing leopard seals and great white sharks. They have also been recorded preying on usually terrestrial species such as moose swimming between islands. In the wild, there have been no fatal attacks on humans. In captivity, there have been several non-fatal and fatal attacks on humans since the 1970s. Experts are divided as to whether the injuries and deaths were accidental or deliberate attempts to cause harm. However, it is suggested that the orca attacks are so often in captivity because the whales relied on the trainers as care takers while in the wild they avoid humans around them.
context_section_description: On June 15, 1972, the hull of the 13-metre-long (43 ft) wooden schooner Lucette was damaged by a pod of killer whales and sank approximately 320 kilometres (200 mi) west of the Galapagos Islands. Dougal Robertson and his family of five escaped to an inflatable life raft and a dinghy.
  On September 9, 1972, Californian surfer Hans Kretschmer reported being bitten by an orca at Point Sur; most maintain that this remains the only fairly well-documented instance of a wild orca biting a human. His wounds required 100 stitches.
caption: Point Sur, seen from the north on Highway 1
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