A males dorsal fin can be five
to six feet tall and the females two to three feet tall. The fins on the side of
their bodies are called the flippers. Now you know how flipper the dolphin got his
name. These flippers can weigh ten to twenty pounds a piece. That is pretty amazing
if you think about it. The last kind of fin is the fluke. The fluke is located
at the end of the Orca. The Orca is primarily black and white except for a gray patch
behind their dorsal fin. These are called saddle patches because they look just like
saddles. Scientists take pictures of an Orca's dorsal fin and saddle patches. This
is how the scientists know which Orca is which, you see no dorsal fin and saddle patch is
the same just like us. The Orca has an inch of fat or blubber that keeps them warm.
If you look at an Orca you can't see their ears. That is because their
ears are basically buried into their heads. The purpose for this is because of the water
pressure, they have ear drums like us and they would pop at the depths that the Orca swims
at. If their ears weren't hidden they would be deaf for their entire life.
Their eyes are two little black dots. The Orca amazingly enough has twenty twenty vision
even under water. In other words they have perfect eye site. Their normal life
span is 50 to 100 years. In captivity they live longer because of the better care
and treatment they get.
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