Killer Whales

Orca or killer whales are majestic, social ocean mammals that have always fascinated me. Below you will find some interesting facts about the orca, orca videos I like, and a few useful links.

If you have any other information you'd like to share, please leave a comment in the comment box below.

• Orcas are mammals that feed on fish and other sea mammals. They have been known to eat other large whales and great white sharks (see footage below).
• Orca whales are the largest species in the dolphin family.
• Orcas are highly sociable animals that swim in pods and can work together to hunt. Below is footage of a group of 3 to 4 orcas working together to create a wave to push a sea lion off of a large piece of ice.
• Female orcas, or cows, usually have 5 calves during their lifetime and usually live to be around 50.
• Male orcas, or bulls, live to about 45. Both males and females have been documented to almost 90 although this is rare.
• Male orcas on average are 23 feet long and 7-10 tons; female orcas are on average 21 feet long and 4-6 tons
• Orcas can be found in all of our oceans from the cold Antarctic to the warmer Pacific, but they prefer the cooler waters.
• Orcas can swim up to 30 mph
• Whales have up to 9 times more myoglobin in their blood than humans. Myoglobin carries oxygen through their bodies and helps them hold their breath longer.
• Orca groups are called pods
• Orcas can be classified into three groups: Resident orcas are the most commonly seen and are found in the northeastern Pacific waters and they eat primarily fish; Transient orcas feed primarily on marine mammals not fish and travel in smaller pods of usually 2-6 orcas or by themselves; Offshore orcas feed on fish, sharks and turtles and can be found in pods up to 60 whales.
• Transient orcas where first thought to be outcasts, hence the name, but recent genetic research proves that they are in-fact a different community that have not interbred with Resident or Offshore orcas for 10,000 years.
• Orcas are verbal animals and like other mammals in the ocean, use echolocation to find prey and navigate their surroundings.
• The three different types of orcas have different verbal patterns. Resident orcas are much more vocal than transient orcas. It is believed this is because Transient orcas feed mainly on marine mammals that have acute underwater hearing and need to be silent to hunt successfully; Resident orcas feed on fish that have poor underwater hearing so being vocal does not effect their hunting capabilities.
• Orca pods use different learned dialects to communicate. Each pod has its own set of sounds that distinguish them from other pods. Mother orcas have been recorded teaching their calves their pod dialect in a simpler form like a human mother teaches her child to speak.
• Orcas have social hierarchies usually led by a female
• Whaling is no longer the biggest threat to whales. In 1972 the Marine Mammal Act began protecting these magnificent animals.
• Orcas are in danger because of human contamination of their waters. Recent studies have found that they are among the most contaminated marine mammals.
• Noise pollution from motorized boats is also a having a negative effect on orcas. Noise pollution effects the echolocation of orcas causing them to work harder to find their food and in turn use more blubber that is tainted with chemicals from pollution. University of Washington researchers found that whale watching boat traffic decreased the effective use of sonar by whales 95-99%. These studies are being conducted because of the 20% decline in killer whale population since 1995.