A quick summary of the orca

Orcas, or killer whales, are the largest of the dolphins and one of the world's most powerful predators. They feast on marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and even whales, employing teeth that can be  ten centimeters long. They are known to grab seals right off the ice. They also eat fish, squid, and seabirds.

Though they often frequent cold, coastal waters, orcas can be found from the polar regions to the Equator.

Killer whales hunt in pods, family groups of up to 40 Orca. There appear to be both resident and transient pod populations of killer whales. These different groups may prey on different animals and use different techniques to catch them. Resident pods tend to prefer fish, while transient pods target marine mammals. All pods use effective, cooperative hunting techniques that some liken to the behaviour of wolf packs.

Whales make a wide variety of communicative sounds, and each pod has distinctive noises that its members will recognize even at a distance. They use echolocation to communicate and hunt, making sounds that travel underwater until they encounter objects, then bounce back, revealing their location, size, and shape.

Killer whales are protective of their young, and other adolescent females often assist the mother in caring for them. Mothers give birth every three to ten years, after a 17-month pregnancy.

Orcas are recognizable by their distinctive black-and-white coloring and are the intelligent, trainable stars of many aquarium shows.

facts

Diet: Carnivore

Average lifespan in the wild: 50 to 80 years

Size: 23 to 32 ft (7 to 9.7 m)

Weight: up to 6 tons (5,443 kg)

Group name: Pod

Size: Relative to a bus

food chain

orcas eat Seals which eat Squid which eats fish which eat zooplankton which eat phytoplankton

other names

did you know killer whales are also called Orcas (obviously), Black Fish and Sea Wolf!!!

WHAT ARE YOU INSANE

• these are the types of orca in Antartica
• Type A looks like a "typical" Killer Whale, living in open water and feeding mostly on Minke Whales
• Type B is smaller than Type A. It has a large white eyepatch and a patch of grey colouring on its back, called a "dorsal cape". It feeds mostly on Seals
• Type C is the smallest type and lives in larger groups than any other type of Killer Whale. Its eyepatch is distinctively slanted forwards, rather than parallel to the body axis. Like Type B, it has a dorsal cape. Its only prey observed so far is the Antaritic Cod

Type B and C Killer Whales live close to the Antarctic ice pack, and diatoms (a type of algae) in these waters may be responsible for the yellowish colouring of both types. Research is ongoing whether Type B and C Killer Whales are different species

What 3 types of killer whales!!!!

Did you know there are 3 types of killer whale?There are the:

  Residential killer whale-which stay in one area and usually don't go out 0f the area.

  Transient killer whales-which live in the same areas as residential BUT they move from area to area.

  Offshore killer whales-these live in the middle of the oceans.

scientific classifacation

Scientific Name: Orcinus Orca
Family: Dolphins
Class: Marine Mammal

Where are they found

Orcas are found in many areas here is a map showing them

Diagram

this is a detailed diagram of the Orca

Why are they black and white???

They are black and white because when you are 300 metres below sea level you can't see much apart from black and white.So they blend in to catch their pray!!!

Most frequent sighting areas

you are most likely to find a killer whale near Japan, Iceland, Norway, Scotland,The north western Pacific Ocean and Antartica.