question: why are whales, particular killer whales, not aggressive towards humans?
comment: For the same reason they are not aggressive to most things. Aggression is a costly thing for any creature; it immediately increases the risk of harm to itself - so its usually best to be chill unless there is a specific reason not to be. When creatures are aggressive it is because they are hunting or there is a threat they recognise as a threat (like a predator, or something that will compete for food, or compete for sex). In order to be aggressive you have to be seen as a threat or food. Humans are not native to the sea, and most sea predators are confident enough that they don’t get twitchy about unusual things being threatening. Likewise, many predators are picky eater, not random opportunists - so we are not seen as likely food - usually. Even those shark bites people are scared of are supposed to be more a “taste” to see if we might be food. Only that’s usually lethal for us, because we are fragile animals of the land.
passages: Of the very few confirmed attacks on humans by wild killer whales, none have been fatal. In one instance, killer whales tried to tip ice floes on which a dog team and photographer of the Terra Nova Expedition were standing. The sled dogs' barking is speculated to have sounded enough like seal calls to trigger the killer whale's hunting curiosity. In the 1970s, a surfer in California was bitten, and in 2005, a boy in Alaska who was splashing in a region frequented by harbour seals was bumped by a killer whale that apparently misidentified him as prey. Unlike wild killer whales, captive killer whales have made nearly two dozen attacks on humans since the 1970s, some of which have been fatal.
   Kasatka, a female killer whale who was captured off the coast of Iceland in October 1978 at the age of one year, has shown aggression toward humans. Kasatka tried to bite a trainer during a show in 1993, and again in 1999. On November 30, 2006, Kasatka grabbed a trainer and dragged him underwater during their show. The trainer suffered puncture wounds to both feet and a torn metatarsal ligament in his left foot.
   Section::::Incidents involving unidentified captive orcas.
  
  BULLET::::- In the mid-1970s, Karen Pryor reports, "I have since heard... of at least one killer whale [that ] launched an unprovoked attack on a favorite trainer, in normal circumstances, savaged him very badly, and nearly killed him."
   There is some disagreement on the veracity of Humboldt squid aggression. Some scientists claim the only reports of aggression towards humans have occurred when reflective diving gear or flashing lights have been present, acting as provocation. Roger Uzun, a veteran scuba diver and amateur underwater videographer, swam with a swarm of Humboldt squid for approximately 20 minutes, later saying they seemed more curious than aggressive. When not feeding or being hunted, Humboldt squid exhibit curious and intelligent behavior.
  
  Section::::Attacks on humans.:Squid.:Giant squid.
   Killer whale attack
  
  Killer whales (or orcas) 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 and only one reported bite. 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.
  
  Section::::Incidents with wild orcas.
   Section::::Captive orca attacks.:2000s.
   There have been attacks on humans by captive killer whales, some fatal.
  
  Section::::Captive orca attacks.:1960s.
  
  BULLET::::- In 1968, the young female orca, Lupa, of the New York Aquarium, chased her trainers out of the tank, snapping her jaws threateningly. Trainers were cleaning the tank at the time of the incident.
  
  Section::::Captive orca attacks.:1970s.
   Section::::Captive orca attacks.:2010s.
   ABC News reported that captive killer whales have attacked nearly two dozen people since the 1970s. Studies of killer whales in the wild have identified at least two categories, based on their territorial range. Those living in a limited area, such as Puget Sound or the Strait of Juan de Fuca, are termed "resident" whales, while "transient" whales roam the oceans at will. These "transient" types have to be more aggressive, in order to assert themselves in a wide range of territories and to prey on a variety of different species. This increased aggressiveness does not disappear in captivity. Furthermore, captivity itself has been asserted to aggravate aggressive behavior, resulting in a "cetacean equivalent of anxiety disorder."
   Competition with fishermen also led to killer whales being regarded as pests. In the waters of the Pacific Northwest and Iceland, the shooting of killer whales was accepted and even encouraged by governments. As an indication of the intensity of shooting that occurred until fairly recently, about 25% of the killer whales captured in Puget Sound for aquarium through 1970 bore bullet scars. The U.S. Navy claimed to have deliberately killed hundreds of killer whales in Icelandic waters in 1956 with machine guns, rockets, and depth charges.
  
  Section::::Relationship with humans.:Modern Western attitudes.
   Humans and killer whales (orcas) are the adult gray whale's only predators, although orcas are the more prominent predator. Aboriginal hunters, including those on Vancouver Island and the Makah in Washington, have hunted gray whales.
   BULLET::::- In 1970, Cuddles, a male orca who resided in both the Dudley Zoo and Flamingo Park (now Flamingo Land) in England, became so aggressive towards his trainers, having attacked them twice, that his keepers were forced to clean his pool from the safety of a shark cage.
   Kanduke, a male captured from T pod in British Columbia, Canada in August 1975, often fought with a younger Icelandic male named Kotar. The aggression became increasingly serious, leading to an incident in which Kotar bit a part of Kanduke's genitals and caused an infection. It is not known if such serious aggression and injury would occur in the open seas.
  
  Section::::Issues with captivity.:Early pregnancy and related issues.
   Section::::Predators.
  
  Known predators are killer whales, sharks, male New Zealand sea lions, and possibly leopard seals. New Zealand sea lions are also known to target pups as their prey. Several regurgitations by sea lions have been found to contain remains of fur seal pups, some with plastic tags previously attached to female fur seal pups.
  
  Section::::Human impact.
   Infanticide, once thought to occur only in captive killer whales, was observed in wild populations by researchers off British Columbia on Dec. 2, 2016. In this incident, an adult male killed the calf of a female within the same pod, with his mother also joining in the assault. It is theorized that the male killed the young calf in order to mate with its mother (something that occurs in other carnivore species), while the male's mother supported the breeding opportunity for her son. The attack ended when the calf's mother struck and injured the attacking male. Such behaviour matches that of many smaller dolphin species, such as the bottlenose dolphin.
   Section::::Relationship with humans.:Other threats.
   In 2005, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) commissioned the Independent Veterinarians Working Group Report. With reference to video evidence, the report states: "Perception of the seal hunt seems to be based largely on emotion, and on visual images that are often difficult even for experienced observers to interpret with certainty. While a hakapik strike on the skull of a seal appears brutal, it is humane if it achieves rapid, irreversible loss of consciousness leading to death."
  
  Section::::Sealing debate.:Ecological feasibility.
   There are a few recorded cases of wild orcas threatening humans. However, there have been no fatalities.
  
  Section::::Incidents with wild orcas.:1910s.
  
  BULLET::::- In the early 1910s, the Terra Nova Expedition recorded that killer whales had attempted to tip ice floes on which an expedition photographer and a sled dog team were standing.
  
  Section::::Incidents with wild orcas.:1970s.
  
  BULLET::::- On June 15, 1972, the hull of the wooden schooner "Lucette" was damaged by a pod of killer whales and sank approximately west of the Galapagos Islands. Dougal Robertson and his family of five escaped to an inflatable life raft and a dinghy.
   Antarctic minke whales are the main prey item of Type A killer whales in the Southern Ocean. Their remains have been found in the stomachs of killer whales caught by the Soviets, while individuals caught by the Japanese exhibited damaged flippers with tooth rake scars and parallel scarring on the body suggestive of killer whale attacks. Large groups of killer whales have also been observed chasing, attacking, and even killing Antarctic minke whales. Most attacks involve Type A killer whales, but on one occasion, in January 2009, a group of ten Type B or pack ice killer whales, which normally preyed on Weddell seals in the area by wave-washing them off ice floes, were observed to attack, kill, and feed on a juvenile Antarctic minke whale in Laubeuf Fjord, between Adelaide Island and the Antarctic Peninsula.
   Section::::Relationship with humans.:Whaling.
   Aggression among captive killer whales is common. They attack each other and their trainers as well. In 2013, SeaWorld's treatment of killer whales in captivity was the basis of the movie "Blackfish", which documents the history of Tilikum, a killer whale at SeaWorld Orlando, who had been involved in the deaths of three people. The film led to proposals by some lawmakers to ban captivity of cetaceans, and lead SeaWorld to announce in 2016 that it would phase out its killer whale program after various unsuccessful attempts to restore its revenues, reputation, and stock price.
  
  Section::::Relationship to humans.:Captivity.:Others.
   Section::::Relationship with humans.:Whaling.:Cooperation with humans.
  
  Killer whales have helped humans hunting other whales. One well-known example was the killer whales of Eden, Australia, including the male known as Old Tom. Whalers more often considered them a nuisance, however, as orcas would gather to scavenge meat from the whalers' catch. Some populations, such as in Alaska's Prince William Sound, may have been reduced significantly by whalers shooting them in retaliation.
  
  Section::::Relationship with humans.:Whale watching.
   While dolphin attacks occur far less frequently than attacks by other sea animals, such as sharks, some scientists are worried about the careless programs of human-dolphin interaction. Dr. Andrew J. Read, a biologist at the Duke University Marine Laboratory who studies dolphin attacks, points out that dolphins are large and wild predators, so people should be more careful when they interact with them.
   Visible scars indicate that killer whales (orcas) can prey upon juvenile humpbacks, though until recently hunting had never been witnessed and attacks were assumed to be superficial in nature. However, a 2014 study off Western Australia observed that when available in large numbers, young humpbacks can be attacked and sometimes killed by orcas. Moreover, mothers and (possibly related) adults escort neonates to deter such predation. The suggestion is that when humpbacks suffered near-extinction during the whaling era, orcas turned to other prey, but are now resuming their former practice. There is evidence that humpback whales will defend against or attack killer whales who are attacking either humpback calves or juveniles as well as members of other species.
   In Western cultures, killer whales were historically feared as dangerous, savage predators. The first written description of a killer whale was given by Pliny the Elder "circa" AD 70, who wrote, "Orcas (the appearance of which no image can express, other than an enormous mass of savage flesh with teeth) are the enemy of [other kinds of whale]... they charge and pierce them like warships ramming."
  