Nadia, a mother of five, was visibly distraught in the footage, tearfully recounting the incident to police. “I looked over and just saw her move her hand like that,” she said, gesturing with her hand in the air. “Her hand was hanging, there was blood everywhere.” She described screaming for her husband to help and gathering her other children to safety, realizing a shark was responsible for the attack.
A witness, Raynel Lugo, a local worker, described the horrifying moment to WINK News. “Somebody was screaming, ‘Help, help, help!’ I saw a shark right on top of the lady and little kid,” Lugo said. He noted that Leah was bleeding profusely, and a co-worker used a towel to stem the bleeding while he called 911. Witnesses reported the shark was approximately 2.4 meters long.
Leah underwent a six-hour surgery to save her hand, a procedure that involved grafting arteries from her leg to restore blood flow and installing pins to stabilize the bones. Remarkably, she can now move all her fingers, which her mother called “truly a miracle.” Nadia shared that Leah’s tissues remain open, and she will be monitored in the hospital for at least a week.
Leah’s uncle, Max Derinskiy, launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover medical expenses, noting that Leah faces a long recovery with extensive physical therapy to regain hand function. “The doctors worked miracles and were able to put her hand back together,” he told NBC News.
The Lendel family released a statement through the hospital, expressing gratitude for the support: “We want to say thank you to everyone that is praying for our sweet Leah. We are thankful for the quick response of everyone that was on scene, the construction workers and residents that ran out to help, and the first responders and all the doctors/nurses that are doing everything to help our girl.”
The incident has left the family and community shaken, but they remain hopeful for Leah’s recovery as she begins her challenging journey toward healing.
This captive orca named Wikie is truly extraordinary: she is the first orca documented to “speak” a language she had never used before. Specifically, Wikie can say “hello” and “bye bye” in human language.
Oh, and one crucial detail: we can absolutely call this species of killer whales (which are friendly to humans) the “pandas of the ocean” due to their striking black-and-white bodies.
An international research team recently published a scientific report highlighting the remarkable speaking abilities of Wikie, an orca living at Marineland Aquarium in Antibes, France.
Orcas are highly intelligent marine mammals. Their name, “killer whale,” is no joke—they are apex predators. They are skilled at toying with prey, seizing opportunities, employing specific hunting techniques for different species, and are incredibly efficient hunters. Historical records even show orcas hunting alongside humans.
Their intelligence makes orcas ideal candidates for training, though many oppose this practice due to their highly social nature. Orcas live in tight-knit family pods, so capturing them and placing them in large aquariums with unfamiliar companions is, to some, rather cruel.
Within their pods, orcas use distinct vocalizations—a unique language that scientists can distinguish with the naked ear. A groundbreaking 2014 study revealed that orcas can learn new languages, even from entirely different species.
The star of this research is Wikie, who has demonstrated the ability to mimic her trainer’s commands. Wikie learned to blow raspberries (like children do), imitate the creak of a door, say “hello” and “bye bye,” and repeat numbers.
This marks the first time an orca has been recorded mimicking human-taught sounds. Previously, only three other animals achieved this: a seal in 1985 (a landmark study), an elephant in 2012 (which mimicked Korean by placing its trunk in its mouth, as seen in a video), and a beluga whale in 2012 (documented in a research paper). Last year, a beluga was recorded “speaking” in “dolphin language.”
Wikie’s study was conducted quickly and wasn’t particularly in-depth. Using both direct interaction and audio recordings, Wikie could replicate words, phrases, and sounds after about 10 attempts. While her sounds aren’t perfectly clear, listeners can still discern what she’s trying to say.
However, it’s important to clarify that there’s no evidence Wikie understands the meaning of what she’s saying. Still, this study provides further proof that marine mammals can adapt their vocalizations to new environments. It also supports the hypothesis that orcas use sounds to learn about social dynamics.
“The research results show that orcas have evolved the ability to control sound production with impressive sound quality,” the researchers concluded in their report.
For those curious about the relationship between humans and orcas, it’s worth noting that no wild orca attacks on humans have resulted in fatalities. In one case, an orca attempted to tip an ice floe carrying a photographer and a team of sled dogs, likely triggered by the dogs’ barking. In another, a boy was nudged by an orca while splashing in an area with seals, possibly mistaken for prey.
In contrast, since the 1970s, there have been nearly 12 incidents of captive orcas attacking humans, some resulting in fatalities.
