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The orca (Orcinus orca), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. It is the only extant species in the genus Orcinus and is recognizable by its black-and-white patterned body. A cosmopolitan species, it is found in diverse marine environments, from Arctic to Antarctic regions to tropical seas.
Orcinus is a genus of Delphinidae, the family of carnivorous marine mammals known as dolphins. It includes the largest delphinid species, Orcinus orca, known as the orca or killer whale. Two extinct species are recognised, Orcinus paleorca and O. citoniensis, describing fossilised remains of the genus. [2]
Orcas or killer whales have a cosmopolitan distribution and several distinct populations or types have been documented or suggested. Three to five types of orcas may be distinct enough to be considered different races , [ 1 ] subspecies , or possibly even species [ 2 ] (see species problem ).
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 ...
A researcher fires a biopsy dart at an orca.The dart will remove a small piece of the whale's skin and bounce harmlessly off the animal. Cetology (from Greek κῆτος, kētos, "whale"; and -λογία, -logia) or whalelore (also known as whaleology) is the branch of marine mammal science that studies the approximately eighty species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises in the scientific ...
Right whale (several species of the genus Eubalaena of the family Balaenidae), also known simply as the Whale, the Greenland Whale, the Black Whale, the Great Whale. Melville claims this whale was the first to be regularly hunted by human beings and is famously known for providing baleen, which was also known as "whalebone" at the time.
“Orca are immensely powerful animals, and this really could have ended horribly — with either the startled whale being injured, or the man responsible being harmed by the aggravated animal.”
The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service conducted a killer whale survey in the Washington coast, which also yielded low numbers, and public opinion had begun to turn against whale capture. Since then, no killer whales in British Columbia or Washington waters have been taken for captivity, with the exception of Miracle, a young killer whale ...