Orcas are among the world’s most charismatic animals, combining grace and power, violent when they need to be, but rarely toward humans and never in the wild. Attacks on humans have been restricted to captive orcas, opening up widespread discussions on the ethics of marine-mammal captivity and prompting major changes to the North American orca-display industry, as represented by corporate giants such as SeaWorld. Orcas are now more likely to be followed online than watched either in captivity or in the wild, with some individual orcas becoming celebrity targets for activist campaigning. This article assesses some of the different ways that orcas are being “followed” today, showing how the figure of the celebrity orca offers an opportunity to reflect both on the performative nature of celebrity and on the continuing human exploitation of performing animals, which is tied in with the depredations of the modern corporate world.

中文翻译：

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杀手：逆戟鲸和他们的追随者

逆戟鲸是世界上最有魅力的动物之一，结合了优雅和力量，在需要时会变得暴力，但很少对人类，也从不在野外。对人类的攻击仅限于圈养逆戟鲸，引发了对海洋哺乳动物圈养伦理的广泛讨论，并促使以海洋世界等企业巨头为代表的北美逆戟鲸展示行业发生重大变化。虎鲸现在更有可能在网上被关​​注，而不是在圈养或野外观看，一些个体虎鲸成为活动家竞选活动的名人目标。这篇文章评估了今天逆戟鲸被“追随”的一些不同方式，