Swimming With Orcas: The Ethics, Honestly

The ethics of swimming with orcas is one of the questions we get most, and the honest answer is a little less exciting than the reel. In most of the world, responsibly built swim-with-orca tourism does not really exist yet. Where it does happen, the rules are thin and the boats are many. So we watch orcas from a respectful distance instead.

Why orcas are rarely part of ethical swim encounters

Guests who ask usually want to know why Ocean Calling does not offer anything like that reel. The ethics here are more complicated than for most marine wildlife, for three reasons: what orcas are, how little we still know about many populations, and how the few places that allow swimming are really managed. Let us go through each, and then talk about what to do instead.

Isn’t an orca just a big dolphin?

Biologically, yes. Orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family. But in behaviour and ecology, the comparison stops being useful very fast. Orcas are apex predators that can weigh several tonnes. They live in tight, complex social groups with their own regional cultures and hunting techniques, passed down within family lines. And they move in ways that are much less predictable than most snorkel-friendly species. Size, social complexity and unpredictable movement together are a big part of why the rules around them tend to be stricter, and why “it seemed calm” is not a safety plan for anyone who studies them closely. Our page on how orca families are structured goes deeper into their social life.

What does the science say about orca conservation status?

Here it gets really complicated. On the IUCN Red List, the orca (Orcinus orca) is listed globally as Data Deficient. Not because their numbers are known to be fine, but because there is not enough information to assess the species as a whole.

Many researchers think that what we call “the orca” hides several very different animals. In its 2024 annual review, the Society for Marine Mammalogy’s Taxonomy Committee added two eastern North Pacific forms as subspecies: the resident killer whale (Orcinus orca ater) and Bigg’s killer whale (Orcinus orca rectipinnus). A proposal to make them full species did not get the votes it needed, and the committee calls them provisional while research continues. In practice, a healthy-looking population in one region tells you very little about a struggling one somewhere else. The Southern Resident killer whales of the Pacific Northwest are listed as endangered and remain a small population, even though the species as a whole is not classified that way. Our guide to orca conservation status and habitat covers the populations one by one.

Where do people swim with wild orcas, and is it regulated well?

The best-documented example is Skjervøy in northern Norway. In winter, orcas follow the herring into the fjords, and snorkel tourism there has grown quickly. Norway does have a whale-watching regulation from 2019 (FOR-2019-12-05-1651) that mentions swimming, diving and paddling, but its clearest numbers are about keeping distance from fishing boats, not from whales. A 2025 ethnographic study by S. E. Hale in Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space describes the opportunity at Skjervøy as unparalleled globally exactly because there are no rules prohibiting the activity, requiring licences, or limiting the number of boats. It reports that growing tourist numbers since 2017 have brought crowding and sometimes risky situations at sea, described as a “wild west”.

The same study found that many visitors see a wild orca encounter as a kind of redemption, or an apology, for how humans have treated the species, especially in captivity. Their awe was often mixed with unease about being part of an activity that was sometimes chaotic. That tension, a moving wildlife moment sitting inside a loosely managed commercial rush, is close to the heart of why this kind of tourism is hard to recommend, even where it is legal. Our honest look at the Norway orca and herring season tells more about the place.

Elsewhere, the rules usually keep people out of the water with orcas completely, instead of managing in-water access. In the United States, federal rules require vessels to stay at least 200 yards from killer whales in Washington State’s inland waters. Since 1 January 2025, Washington state law goes further for the endangered Southern Residents: boats, including kayaks and paddleboards, must stay at least 1,000 yards away, and if a whale comes within 400 yards they must stop or disengage the engine until it passes. Unidentified orcas should be treated as Southern Residents. With these distances, an in-water swim is off the table by design, not by oversight. Rules change, so check the current rule before you travel.

Why does the wish to swim with a wild orca feel so strong?

Part of it, from what guests tell us and what researchers found at Skjervøy, goes back to decades of orcas in captivity: marine parks, and later documentaries like Blackfish (2013), which brought wide attention to the welfare costs of keeping orcas in tanks. Wanting to see one wild and free afterwards is an understandable, even generous wish. That wish deserves respect. The tourism that has grown around it, in most places, is not yet built well enough to respect it back.

So what is the alternative?

Orca watching from a boat, at a respectful distance, with an operator who follows local vessel-distance rules and keeps groups small. It gives you a real chance to see wild orca behaviour, like breaching, spy-hopping or a family travelling together, without adding to the crowding in the water. It is a different experience from a snorkel encounter, and for orcas specifically, it is the more defensible one almost everywhere in the world today.

Distance does not have to mean seeing nothing. An action camera on a short pole can film the surface from the boat, and a roll-top dry bag keeps it and your phone safe from the spray while you wait. Supporting the groups doing population research is the other half. The Data Deficient listing exists because the science is not finished, and that gap closes with funding and fieldwork, not with tourism demand.

What this means for Ocean Calling

We do not build orca encounters into any Ocean Calling trip, and we probably will not until the rules and the science look much more settled than they do today. What we do offer are encounters with species, and in places, where vetted local operators and clear local rules come together, and on our hosted retreats, small groups of six guests at most. For orcas, right now, that mostly means watching from a respectful distance and being glad the water is theirs. Wildlife encounters are unpredictable. Orca watching should always follow local regulations and experienced professional guidance.

Our pillar guide to what ethical ocean travel really means explains how we decide. If this made you curious to meet the ocean this way, you can explore our upcoming retreats.

Questions people ask

Is it legal to swim with orcas?

It depends on the country. In northern Norway, snorkelling with orcas happens under a brief 2019 whale-watching regulation. In US waters, vessel-distance rules of 200 yards, and 1,000 yards for Southern Residents in Washington State, effectively rule it out. Check the current rule before you travel.

Are orcas endangered?

Globally the IUCN lists orcas as Data Deficient, meaning there is not enough data to assess the species as a whole. Some populations, like the Southern Residents of the Pacific Northwest, are listed as endangered.

Why is Skjervøy in Norway controversial?

A 2025 study described crowding and sometimes risky situations at sea, called a “wild west”, because there are no licences or limits on the number of boats for orca snorkelling there.

Are there different kinds of orcas?

Yes. In 2024 the Society for Marine Mammalogy recognised resident and Bigg’s killer whales as provisional subspecies, and researchers continue to study other ecotypes around the world.

Does Ocean Calling offer orca swims?

No. We do not build orca encounters into any trip, and we recommend boat-based watching at a respectful distance where local rules are clear.

Wildlife encounters are never guaranteed and never forced. Ocean Calling works only with vetted, ethical local operators, and every animal is free to approach, or not, entirely on its own terms.

Sources & further reading

1. Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, 2019. Forskrift om utøvelse av hvalsafari (FOR-2019-12-05-1651). regjeringen.no
2. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. New legislation creates 1,000-yard mandatory vessel buffer around endangered Southern Resident killer whales.
3. NOAA Fisheries. Marine life viewing guidelines: guidelines and distances (200 yards from killer whales in Washington inland waters), accessed 2026.
4. IUCN Red List. Orcinus orca, killer whale (Data Deficient).
5. Society for Marine Mammalogy. Taxonomy Committee, 2024 annual review.
6. Hale, S. E., 2025. Study of orca snorkelling tourism at Skjervøy, Norway. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space.
7. Center for Whale Research, 2025. Southern Resident orca population census.
8. Whale and Dolphin Conservation, 2019. Frozen waste: missed opportunity to address deep concerns over Norway's snorkel-with-orcas tours.

Further reading on Ocean Calling: More from the journal · Wildlife & the law · See the retreats · Ocean Atlas