Video of my son swimming with Orcas off La Paz

it is a shaky video that does not show much.

your video would be more interesting if the swimmer had filmed himself getting eaten

seems pretty foolishly trusting to dive in water with carnivores when said carnivore likes to eat marine mammals about same size as snorkelers!

i suppose diving in water to swim with orcas is sort of like running up to a black bear to see what will happen! while we know what will happen when running up to a grizzly, i suppose odds may be in your favor if you run up to a black bear. good luck with that!

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Originally posted by mtgoat666 it is a shaky video that does not show much. your video would be more interesting if the swimmer had filmed himself getting eaten seems pretty foolishly trusting to dive in water with carnivores when said carnivore likes to eat marine mammals about same size as snorkelers! i suppose diving in water to swim with orcas is sort of like running up to a black bear to see what will happen! while we know what will happen when running up to a grizzly, i suppose odds may be in your favor if you run up to a black bear. good luck with that!

Fortunately, this isn't the reaction Grant has gotten when proudly showing off his video. Orcas don't eat, nor have they ever attacked a human outside of SeaWorld. I wasn't sharing the video for criticism but shouldn't be surprised that what it got I guess.

Thanks for embedding the video, BN. I'm a newb but I'll go learn how to do that now.

Very nice experience for your son and I am sure that you as the dad must feel very proud of him . Thank you for sharing. It was cool!!! Specially if you see it from a young kids eyes.

Now, I need to take some Dramamine for my dizzy head. the video gave me motion sickness.

to see those huge whales swimming by you and hearing the noise .... priceless. THANKS for sharing ... I thorougly enjoyed that experiece as I would never ever have the guts to do it myself

A bit less shaky would be great but this was a 12 yr old boy whose heart rate was probably 225 and he was in open seas.

Noted! Still learning the personalities.

LaPazGringo,

WOW! It took me a minute to figure out what I was looking at, but when I did, I about inhaled the chair cushion!

Qudos to your son and the guide for doing what they did, but man......I can't help but feel that you got away with one!

I have lived around, and been a professional naturalist guide in whale areas for 20 years, and have had many close encounters with Orcas. There are two distinct groups, one, transients, feed primarily on marine mammals, and the other, residents, who feed primarlily on fish.

Transient pods are smaller, usually not more than 8 individuals. Resident pods can be over 100. Residents use lots of vocalizations when the hunt (because fish can't hear their calls) and Transients are almost silent (because seals, porpoise and sea lions can hear them). Transients hunt like a wolf pack, with one member serving to distract the prey, or they overwhelm their prey with multiple similtainious attacks.

I would feel fairly comfortable being in the water with residents, and not at all with transients.

I agree with the post above that said your son will be telling this story around the campfire when he's 99. He should be!

Just do some more research before trying to get insurance for your new "Swim with the Orcas" business!!