Whenever I mention one of my favorite animals is a killer whale, they respond "Oh the whales at Sea World?" Little do they know that killer whales are actually dolphins, also known as orcas. They are the largest species of dolphin and are considered the top predator of the ocean. Killer whales got their name from the food they hunt; right whales. Sailors were helped by killer whales back when whaling was legal. If you ever want to read a good book, read The Killers of Eden. The book highlights how fishermen, with the aid of killer whales, killed right whales and were able to maintain a livelihood. The sailors would then leave the tongue for the killer whales to eat as a thanks for helping them.
Anyways, killer whales are the top predator of the sea because they live in large family groups called pods. The pods are based off of a matriarchal leader, usually the oldest female (just like elephants). The pods consist of both males and females, basically one large family. To keep the pod as one, they use a complex system of whistles, echolocation clicks, pulsed calls, low-frequency pops, and jaw claps. Without the diversity of sounds they produce killer whales would not be able to communicate their desires in an efficient way.
Killer whales also teach their young how to hunt with their communication skills. An example would be seal hunting. Killer whales use clicks and whistles to indicate where the seals are on the beach. They then ride the tide in and capture the unsuspecting seals. It is fascinating the complexity behind their hunting. They have also been known to push right whales and their calves towards open water where they drown the calves. Killer whales also eat sharks, great whites in particular; this is why they are dubbed the top predator of the sea.
They are my favorite animal because of the songs and sounds they produce. I get chills whenever I hear them. Not sure how you feel, but one of my goals in life are to see killer whales in the wild and not performing tricks for entertainment. I want to kayak along side a pod. Sounds dangerous because you do not know when they will surface, but that is a risk I am willing to take. I have heard from those that have kayaked alongside a pod that the orcas look at you, or more like look through to your soul when they go under your boat. Their songs can be felt through the boat and heard from the surface. I would love to have that opportunity. Wouldn't you?
Posted by: Em Arsenault (4)
Anyways, killer whales are the top predator of the sea because they live in large family groups called pods. The pods are based off of a matriarchal leader, usually the oldest female (just like elephants). The pods consist of both males and females, basically one large family. To keep the pod as one, they use a complex system of whistles, echolocation clicks, pulsed calls, low-frequency pops, and jaw claps. Without the diversity of sounds they produce killer whales would not be able to communicate their desires in an efficient way.
Killer whales also teach their young how to hunt with their communication skills. An example would be seal hunting. Killer whales use clicks and whistles to indicate where the seals are on the beach. They then ride the tide in and capture the unsuspecting seals. It is fascinating the complexity behind their hunting. They have also been known to push right whales and their calves towards open water where they drown the calves. Killer whales also eat sharks, great whites in particular; this is why they are dubbed the top predator of the sea.
They are my favorite animal because of the songs and sounds they produce. I get chills whenever I hear them. Not sure how you feel, but one of my goals in life are to see killer whales in the wild and not performing tricks for entertainment. I want to kayak along side a pod. Sounds dangerous because you do not know when they will surface, but that is a risk I am willing to take. I have heard from those that have kayaked alongside a pod that the orcas look at you, or more like look through to your soul when they go under your boat. Their songs can be felt through the boat and heard from the surface. I would love to have that opportunity. Wouldn't you?
Posted by: Em Arsenault (4)
The orca [dolphin] is one of the most social animals in the animal kingdom. They can produce tremendous sounds that echo through the waters, and their family members rarely venture out of hearing range of one another. Orcas are strongly attached to each other, and this really shows how communication is the glue that holds the species together.
ReplyDeletePosted by Michael Shi
Wow, I did not know that these killer whales are able to hunt sharks in addition to the right whales. Are there any documented cases of exactly how a group of killer whales hunt great white sharks? I would imagine that a meal of a great white shark isn’t one that is particular easy to catch, thus I wonder if there is a special reason why a group of killer whales might expend a ton of energy to hunt a great white shark.
ReplyDeletePosted by James Lin
Hi Em,
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that you love killer whales so much. Unfortunately, I do not. They are so ruthless and mean. They already have the size to be the top predator and they are fearless. They always risk almost being beached just to catch a seal. So I do praise them for that. But did you know that once they catch a seal they drag them out to sea and you would think that would be the end of the seal. But that is not the case, the killer whale has to show off what they caught. The killer whale basically tortures the seal for the fun of it just to flaunt its alpha status. It tosses the seal repeatedly up into the air from the sea and all you can see is a baby seal flipping in the air like a thousand times just to be caught in the water by the whale, just to do it again. So I hope you can see why I dislike them and do not feel that bad when they do get beached.
But good luck to you when you do kayak with killer whales. I will pray that you will not have the same fate as those poor seals.
Posted by Whitney Huynh
Orcas are indeed profoundly interesting animals, and prolific hunters. I was completely unaware, myself, of their relationship to whaling, however. It hearkens back to the belief in dolphins to help drowning sailors, if a bit more utilitarian in context. I wonder what other traits orcas share with their relatives, beyond communicative calls and behaviours. Dolphins are one of the only animals besides humans that kill for fun. Do orcas possess this morbidly intelligent trait? Are they as intelligent as their brethren?
ReplyDeleteposted by Jacob Lane
I never knew that whales were not an actual whale, but memebers of the dolphin family. I'm surprised over the years of visiting aquariums and biology that I am just learning this fact now. I also never knew that killer whales ate other whales. In my Animal Behavior class we watched a video about how killer whales have found a way to beach themselves to reach sea lions that are breeding on the shore of islands during mating season. They are really fascinating creature and have developed some graet hunting tactics.
ReplyDeletePosted by Noelle Kellicker
A popular youtube video showcased how incredible the orcas communication skills are. The orcas were spotted by a whale watching boat and the passengers saw the coolest site: a pod of orcas teaching younger whales how to hunt. The older orcas gathered in a straight line and lured a baby seal onto a small piece of ice. Then one older orca demonstrated how swimming quickly at the ice caused a wave that pushed the baby seal back into the water. However after doing this, the older orca then chased the seal back onto the ice and allowed the younger orca to try. Although you might feel bad for the seal, this is incredible communication on the orcas part and is an example of why they are such effective pack hunters and communicators.
ReplyDeleteAlso I would love to kayak with a pod as well. In my Marine Vertebrates class I learned that there are orca whales that solely eat mammals such as seals and then there are orcas that eat fish such as salmon. I would try and make sure I kayak with the salmon eating orcas!
Posted by Suzanne Sullivan
I had no idea killer whales were dolphins. It kinda took me back because I always picture the cute lovable dolphin that people get rides from when they go to sea world. It also must be intimidating looking at a group of killer whales coming at you if you a whale in the ocean. Maybe the coloring of the killer whale is used so that when grouped together, it makes a larger looking animal and may scare any potential threats that way.
ReplyDeleteJobin Oommen
I like that you wrote a blog about something you are passionate about. Killer whales are definitely very cool and dangerous. I watched a special recently about a family who's boat was attacked by killer whales. I wonder what about the was a releaser of this whale's aggression.
ReplyDeletePosted by Michael Thomas
I had never realized that orcas were actually dolphins either. I always just took the name "killer whale" at face value. Knowing that now, it makes a lot of sense, orcas do look more like dolphins than most whales. It's really interesting that they learned to help whalers in return for the whale tongues. Communicating to coordinate pod hunting and forcing calves under the water instead of just biting and fighting them shows a lot of ingenuity. These animals seem much more clever and intelligent than one might first think.
ReplyDeleteRhys Ursuliak
I never knew killer whales were actually dolphins! I've always heard conflicting things about their temperament, from that they are aggressive to that they are very calm creatures. I personally would not want to be that close to them, but I think its cool that you are so interested and would actually want to kayak near them. Do you know where their ranges are and if they are found close to shore or far out at sea?
ReplyDeletePosted by Janelle Hayes
First off killer whales don't always get away with killing the seals, most of the time they actually let them go. They like to play with them and then the orcas let the seals go. So there is no need to hate them.
ReplyDeleteAlso if you are worried about the incident with the trainer and Sea World, then you must know that it was in fact the trainers fault for her death. If you want to know more please email me a eearsena@student.umass.edu
Anyways, for all the positive comments, thank you. Next time I will be writing about foxes.
Posted by: Em Arsenault
Wow, I never knew "killer Whales" were actually dolphins that kill whales! That was a great surprise to me. Your enthusiasm for these dolphins is great, but I recently saw a video that made me think of them as cruel. They were catching sea lions and seals and throwing them high into the air with great distance. In this video it showed how these dolphins actually adapted ways to jump out of the water onto the sand, grab the seal, and jump back into the water! It was extraordinary! It was also a little upsetting because the seals and sea lions were on the sand with their babies and the killer whale would jump up and take them away. They were extremely aggressive, but undoubtedly very interesting.
ReplyDeletePosted by Abbie Saranteas
Haha, after all the previous posts I gotta admit that I knew that they were dolphins :P That's really interesting that they worked so well with humans. I know about Killer Whale-Human cooperation (because of Sea World) but I had no idea it extended into the wild. How much do these wild animals interact with humans, and how does it vary from other species (bottle-nose). They have a different pod organization than other dolphins I imagine, does that effect inter-species interaction?
ReplyDeleteBy Joseph Needleman