The Killer Whale
K. Balcomb
The killer whale, or Orcinus orca can be found worldwide in all sea
s from both tropics to
Arctic and Antarctic oceans. They are one of the most well known whales
because of the capitivity of Shamu at
Sea World and the other studies that are widely publized. The male killer
whale has an average length of 6.7
to 7.0 meters and can weigh between 4,000 to 5,000 kilograms. The female
killer whales are smaller having a length of
5.5 to 6.5 meters and weighing 2,500 to 3,000 kilograms. They have 10 to 12 pairs of large
conical teeth in each jaw. Their
coloration is very striking. With black on the back and sides and a white
belly that extends as a rear-pointing
lobe up the flukes and less markedly near the head, around the throat. They
are
also white on the chin and underside
of their flippers with a distictive, conspicuous white oval patch above and
behind each eye. These colorations
vary depending on regional variations. Killer whales can have indistinct
grey saddles over their backs just behind
their dorsal fin. They have a stout torpedo-shaped body with a conical-shaped
head. Their flippers are large rounded and
paddle-shaped with a centrally-placed dorsal fin.
The dorsal fin is sickle-shaped in adult females,
but very tall and erect in adult males. There are some variations in
morphology between regional populations but
vocal dialects vary more between pods than geographically.
There is no exact known population size. But the largest numbers
are in the Antarctic where the population is estimated at more than 160,000.
Andrea-Vanessa-Erica @ the Advanced Technologies Academy