Orcinus Orca - The Killer Whale

(PRONOUNCED: OR-SINE-US-OR-KAH)

It appears that we do not know that much about this wonderful animal, which I personally think is a shame! There are loads of loads of books about the brilliant Dolphin, but isen´t the Killer Whale just as intelligent, maybe even more intelligent than the Dolphin?! Okay, the Dolphin is a cute thing, but the Killer Whale definitely has the best "looks" :-)

I have watched a few programs about the Killer Whale, in which people in USA studied the Killer Whale, and now I hope that they one day will make a book about the Killer Whale, so that ordinary people can learn more about them!

In a book I read, someone compared the Killer Whale with the novellfigure Dr Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. The Killer Whale is a predator, who attacks from small seals to the biggest Whales, such as the hunchback Whale. The Killer Whale is a cruel hunter, it plays with the seal, like we see a cat play with a mouse.

Take a trip to one of the Sea World shows you can see in USA, and you wouldn´t ever believe that this fascinating, intelligent, kind playsick Whale could ever harm anyone! It is amassing to see how the Whales enjoy the shows, enjoy the cheers from the audience, and it looks like it loves music! It´s no wonder that this whale has helped to strengthen the whale population! I must say though, I´m not a big fan of the Killer whale being held in captivity. I know that the trainer and the Killer Whale have a special bond, but I do not believe that it can replace the social life in the wild! I have heard trainers admitting, that the whales think up their own tricks, when they are getting to bored, but who can say that they couldn´t die of boredom?

Why the name "Killer Whale" one could ask! Well, that´s because they can eat other animals, which their powerful jaws and teeth allows them to do!

The Killer Whale is very true to its family, when you see a group of them, you can be positive that they are related. They live and die in the same group! All the born Killer Whales stays with their mother. A funny thing some scientist found out is, that none of the males are the father to anyone in the group! A Killer whale can get old, up to 50 years at least, but some females could get the age of 100 years! A grown males length is about 10 meter, and they weigh about 8-10 tons. The female is about 7 meter and weighs 3-4 tons.

The grown males have a very large dorsal fin, which looks like a sword. The fin can get a formidable length, some were measured to about 2 meters! The female has a triangular dorsal fin which looks like the fin of a shark. The Killer Whale have from 40-48 teeth shaped like a sheath knife in the length of 10 centimeters. (5 centimeters above the gum)

Identification list:

1. Black and white with an Grey "saddle" behind the fin

2. White bliss above the eye, white cheek, white chest, white "finger" on the side, black above the tale, white beneath.

3. Black flippers shaped like a shovel

4. The skin is very rubbery

5. They make many sounds, like: shrills, clicking noises, croaks etc.

6. The large black dorsal fin (which is the longest fin of any whale, the males fin can measure up to 6 feet!)

The Killer Whale can not breathe under the water, they are mammals, and they need air to breathe! They come to the surface to breath through their blow hole, which is placed in the top of their head. As any other creature they close the blowhole when they return under the water, and only opens it when they want to breath!

The killer Whale is very athletic and it can leap and turn quickly, and it can swim about 30 miles per hour. All that even though they can weigh about 18.000 pounds and have a length of 10 meters. The mentioned talents are what makes them so dangerous, plus the fact that they fear nothing, and they can chase down almost every other sea creature!

In the winter the killer Whales migrate to warmer waters, and there the young ones will be born. The calves are born in the water, and the umbilical cord snaps during the delivery. The little calf is being nursed up to 12 months, in that time its developing a thick insulating layer of blubber. As the calf develops the fat content of the mothers milk increases. By the way, the calf suckles from the nipples concealed in abdominal mammary slits, and it takes place close to the surface of the water. All the teeth are coming, in about 5 month.

The dream of seeing a Killer Whale came true for some people in the summer of 1990, as a male Killer Whale appeared in the harbor of Randers, a town in the North Western part of Denmark.

They gave the Whale the name "Jens Ove junior", named after the tug boat"Jens Ove" which tried to help the Whale back to deep seas again.

Jens Ove Junior stayed in the harbor of Randers for 30 days, while they tried several times to help him back to Kattegat, but for some unknown reason he returned to Randers again. The visit came to an tragic ending, as "Jens Ove Junior" died of an infection. The skeleton of "Jens Ove Junior" can be seen in the zoological museum of Copenhagen.

It isen´t a rare thing to see Killer Whales in the Danish waters, but it certainly is a rare thing for a Killer Whale to swim so far into a Danish inlet.

A woman even jumped into the water, because she wanted to come as near as possible to the Whale, but she was fished out right after and nothing happened to her!

The killer Whale has appeared in several movies as a human killer, but the truth is that no documented report ever showed that a human being was on a Killer Whales menu!

There are some authentic stories about Killer Whales, which came smashing through the ice, where people were going. But this happened in occasions where the Whale could just see a shadow, and could have mistaken the human being for a seal! The people in question got away with quite a scare, but they wasen´t harmed!

Five pictures of KEIKO, who soon is returning to his natural habitat.
(the Killer whale from the movie "Free Wily")

Do you have some pictures of Killer Whales and Dolphins? If you do, I would really like to see them.

You can mail them to this address: carlslund@get2net.dk