Orca (Killer) Whales

FAST FACTS ABOUT THE ORCA WHALE

Hey, why do you think the orca is nicknamed the killer whale? Well, they are called the killer whales because their powerful jaws and teeth allow them to eat other animals. They sometimes eat other whales that are larger than themselves! They are the deadliest species of whales. These whales are not baleen whales, but have teeth to eat fish and meat.Their teeth are strong and fit tightly together. Killer whales are very deadly, but can be fun to watch.

These whales hunt and attack all kinds of fish. They can eat seals and penguins, too. So other words they can eat practically any animal that is found in their icy region. Here is a way they can kill seals-

If a killer whale sees a seal sitting on an ice floe he may ram his body against it to make the seal fall off, then eat it. (They can hunt in packs from 5 to 50 whales.)

Looks

These whales are a jet black with a white underside, and behind the dorsal fin is gray. Their dorsal fin is the longest of any whale. A male’s can be 6 feet long. But all in all these whales are medium sized. The males are around 30 feet and the females are around 20 feet long. The male killer whale usually weighs 7 to 9 tons.

They Live

Killer whales live in the Northern Pacific and Atlantic oceans, where it is cold. They are often seen off the coast of North America, like Alaska and British Columbia. They can also live south of Africa and Australia in the cold Antarctic seas. But when winter comes, the families migrate to warm waters, where the young are born.

Calves (babies)

When the family has come from the cold waters to the warm waters, they have migrated. The baby calf is born then. Once it’s born it has the same markings as its parents. The markings are yellow at first but change to white as they get older. The whale calf is very playful and stays near his mother for the 1^st year of his life.

Performing

Killer whales can be seen in tons of marine parks and zoos in the U.S. Killer whales are a member of the dolphin family and perform similar tricks. They can leap out of the water, stand on their tails with their tails out of water. And although killer whales are cruel to other animals in the ocean they’re very playful, gentle and friendly in the marine parks.

Saved

Killer whales would be totally safe if there were not any people, because no creatures in the ocean dare to threaten them. Killer whales are hunted and captured because they learn a various number of tricks (many) and are fun to watch. After a while many people got worried that none would be left, so they made a law, that makes it so that people have to have a permit, to take killer whales from the oceans.