The Orca (Orcinus orca) is the
largest member of the dolphin
family (order Cetacea,
subfamily Delphinidae) and a
versatile predator. It is also
known as a Killer Whale or
Great Killer Whale, even
though it is not a whale. The
Killer Whale name is actually
a corruption of the older
Killer of Whales?the species
is known to prey
more

The Orca (Orcinus orca) is the
largest member of the dolphin
family (order Cetacea,
subfamily Delphinidae) and a
versatile predator. It is also
known as a Killer Whale or
Great Killer Whale, even
though it is not a whale. The
Killer Whale name is actually
a corruption of the older
Killer of Whales?the species
is known to prey on juvenile
and small cetaceans. Another
term for the animal is
Grampus. 'Orca' is a latin
word meaning both whale and
demon. The word is the origin
of orc, a legendary
monster.The animals are
distinctively marked, with a
black back, white chest and
sides and a white patch above
and behind the eye. They have
a heavy and stocky body and a
large dorsal fin. Males can be
up to 9.5 metres long (a
little over 31 feet) and weigh
as much as 10 tons; females
are smaller, reaching 8.5
metres (about 28 feet) at most
and a weight of 7 or 8 tons.
Calves at birth weight about
180 kg and are about 2.4
metres long (about 8 feet). At
about 1.8m (about 6 feet), the
dorsal fin of the male is
taller than the female's, and
more upright. From a distance,
females and juveniles can be
confused with various dolphin
and porpoise species.An Orca's
diet depends entirely on
availability, although pods
can specialize and thus ignore
potential prey. It is believed
they require around 60kg of
food daily. Their prey
includes twenty species of
cetaceans, five species of
pinniped (seals), thirty
species of fish (particularly
salmon), seven species of bird
and two species of squid, in
addition to a variety of other
sea creatures, occasionally
including larger whales such
as Fin Whales, Minke Whales,
Gray Whales, or even young
Blue Whales. Orcas even hunt
and kill Great White Sharks
for their nutrient-rich livers
and to eliminate competitors
for food. It is from their
attacks on whales that they
gained their name; they do not
attack humans.Orcas have one
of the most sophisticated
ultrasonic sounds of all
animals who use this method of
communication. Not only do
they have regional 'dialects',
which produce slight
variations in sound depending
on their geographical
distribution but each animal
has two distinct 'callsigns'.
One which distinguishes them
as an individual and another
that identifies the pod they
belong to.Orca has been
targeted in commercial
whaling, but catches are now
insignificant. In the 1950s
the U.S. Air Force, at the
request of the Icelandic
government used bombers and
riflemen to slaughter orcas in
Icelandic waters because they
compete with humans for fish.
The operation was considered a
great success at the time.In
recent years, the Orca's
intelligence, trainability,
striking appearance,
playfulness in captivity and
its sheer size have made it a
popular public aquarium or zoo
attraction. This, combined
with the fact that the animal
is not aggressive towards
humans, has led to the image
of the species being
rehabilitated from an object
of fear like Great White
Sharks to a respected
predator, worthy of
toleration, like the wolf in
the United States. Orcas in
captivity may develop
pathologies such as dorsal fin
collapse, seen in 60-90% of
captive males.

Category Comedy

Tags Killer, Whales, Funny, Orcas, Ice, Fishing, Free, Willy, FlyingForGlory