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Orcas, despite being dolphins, are commonly called 'killer whales' due to a mistranslation of the Spanish 'asesino de ballenas' (literally 'whale killer'), reflecting their historical predation on whales. [6] Since the 1960s, the use of "orca" instead of "killer whale" has steadily grown in common use. [7]
Killer whales play an important role in our ocean's ecosystem. Female orcas can live up to 90 years, and male orcas live up to 60 years. Whales can communicate through sounds ranging from clicks ...
The killer whales regularly demonstrate their competence by chasing seals up shelving gravel beaches, up to the edge of the water. The pursuing whales are occasionally partially thrust out of the sea by a combination of their own impetus and retreating water, and have to wait for the next wave to re-float them and carry them back to sea. [12]
Killer whales and bottlenose dolphins have also been known to drive their prey onto a beach to feed on it. Killer whales have been known to paralyze great white sharks and other sharks and rays by flipping them upside down. [53] [54] Other whales with a blunt snout and reduced dentition rely on suction feeding. [55]
Orcas, or “killer whales,” can grow up to 27 feet long and weigh as much as six tons. Known as the ocean’s top predator, they’re extremely intelligent, with their own languages of clicks ...
Researchers found an increase in common dolphin sightings in the English Channel and Hebrides, and a decline in white-beaked dolphins in the Hebrides. Human impact on ocean increasing pressure on ...
General characteristics of a large marine ecosystem (Gulf of Alaska) Killer whales (orcas) are highly visible marine apex predators that hunt many large species. But most biological activity in the ocean takes place with microscopic marine organisms that cannot be seen individually with the naked eye, such as marine bacteria and phytoplankton.
Approving two proposed killer whale species could transform how they're conserved. It would also turn a new page in one of the strangest chapters in marine mammal history.