General Statement/Classification Orcas both male and female stay with there mother’s group for life. They are formidable predators and cooperate to kill anything big enough to eat, from fish to blue whales. They coordinate their activities with whistles and calls. In some areas they steal fish from hooks. They are more commonly seen seen around New Zealand. than Australalia. some migration is thought to occur, but at least some remain in the Antarctica sea-ice throughout out the winter.
Description killer whales are about 2.4 metres long at birth and females grow it 8.2 metres and grow to 9.5 metres long.
Unmistakable, the killer whale is the largest of all dolphins, with a robust and graceful body boldly marked in boldly colored black and white. The sides are black exept for a tear-drop shaped patch of white behind and above the eye and a shaped saddle behind below the tall triangle of the dorsal fin, which is much in males than females. There ten to twelve large, conical teeth in each side in the upper and lower jaws. Food and Predators
An agile and intelligent animal, the orca whale will use several tactics to catch its food but the key to its successes is cooperation with in the pod, with the catch being shared later. waters to deep sea. When seeking prey, it sends out a call which will bounce back of any nearby fish schools. This is called echolocation.Once found, the fish are driven bye the pod towards the shore where there is no escape. Killer whales feed on fish, squid, marine birds including penguins, pinnipeds, and cetaceans. They have even been seen taking down a blue whale, a member of the largest species on earth. In the Pacific north-west of the United States and Canada, they feed mainly on salmon and other fishes. The ones that migrate, feed on seals and sizes of one animal to more than fifty. Some whales may cover more than 4 hundred square area, while others that migrate move well over 1000 km in a matter of days. Killer whales depend on sound for communication. The killer whales has no
This is a killer whale catching a seal
Adaptation All whales have a thick layer of fat named blubber to let them stay warm. The boy is called a bull and the girl is called a cow. Whales are members of the aquaticorder of animals called cetaceans. These huge war blooded mamals with out fur. Whales can dive very deep just for food. When lots of whales travel they are called a pod.
Special features They are the fastest out of the dolphin family. They have 3 different speed.They swim at usually at speeds of 10 to 13 kph but can swim up to forty five kph per hour. Bibliography Creatures OT the Antarctic by Sue Gough 1997 Rigby Heinemann. Whale whatching 1999 by Peter Gill and Cecilia Burke Whales Dolphins and Porpoises 1989 by Sir Richard Harrison and Tony Pyrzakowski
