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THE KILLER WHALE. By: Matthew Adams. Classification. Physical characteristics . The orca’s eye is below the eye spot It has a saddle behind the dorsal fin Female dorsal fin=3ft Male dorsal fin=6ft . C ompare. MALE. 6ft. FEMALE. 3ft. D istribution.
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THE KILLER WHALE By: Matthew Adams
Physical characteristics The orca’s eye is below the eye spot It has a saddle behind the dorsal fin Female dorsal fin=3ft Male dorsal fin=6ft
Compare MALE 6ft FEMALE 3ft
Distribution • The orca lives basically in every aquatic habitat • Mostly along shorelines for food • Don’t migrate if there is plenty food, good temperature and not a lot of pollution
Habitat • Orcas live from the tip of Alaska down to the ice of Antarctica • If there is plenty of food orcas stay in most bodies of water
Conservation • The orca is data deficient and therefore has no conservation status • The combination of potential declines driven by depletion of prey resources and the effects of pollutants is believed sufficient that a 30% global reduction over three generations DD
Parental care • The bond between a mom and her offspring is like no other • Rarely does the calf leave its mother • Mother gives birth to one calf tail first after a gestation period of 15-17 months • the female orca is mature at 6-10 years old and males mature at 12-16 years old
Longevity and mortality • The killer whale lives up to 30 years if it is male and 50 if it is female • However in captivity the average is about 5-12 years depending on the generation
Diet/predator relationships • The killer whale if healthy rules the sea and is the top of the food chain • The killer whale is known to eat anything that it finds • The orca does not undergo torpor because it has voluntary breathing and needs to be half awake at all times
Human relationships • The orca is fascinating to us so humans use it for • Zoos • Circuses and shows • Skin • We once shot a couple with our naval aviators when they messed with the fishing turn outs in iceland
Fun facts • Top of the food chain • Sharks are scared of and run from orcas • Scientist are trying to make a shark repellent • The orca supposedly got the name killer whale from a miss-communication of “whale killer” • The only human attack was on a surfer who was later spat out when the orca maybe realized that it was a mistake
Works Cited • B, Ford John K. Killer Whales : the Natural History and Genealogy of Orinus orca in British Columbia and Washington State. Seattle: UBC, 2000. Print. • Carwardine, Mark. Killer Whales. Illus. Tony Stone. New York: DK, 2001. Print. • Gordon, David George, and Chuck Flaherty. Feild Guide to the Orca. Seattle: Sasquatch, 1990. Print. • "Killer Whales: Longevity and Causes of Death." Sea World. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Sea world. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. <http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/KillerWhale/deathkw.html>. • "Orcanius orca." IucnRedlist. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2013. <http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/15421/0>. • Vicki, Leon. A Pod of Killer Whales: The Mysterious Life of the Intelligent Orca. Montrose: London Town, 2006. Print.