Killer Whales: The Killer Whale

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The Killer Whale, that has a ring to it doesn’t it? Orcas, Killer Whales, are not actually Whales, in fact, they are a part of the Dolphin family. The name “Killer Whale” developed over time stemming from “Whale Killer.” They were once called Whale Killer due to the fact that sailors witnessed their attacks on larger cetaceans. Orcas are the largest member of the Dolphin family and the largest orca ever captured was 32 feet long. To put that in perspective, that’s about the size of almost 7 humans put together! Because of their size and strength, they are the largest apex predators on Earth. Although whaling was hugely popular, there is only one known community of Orcas, that are in fact, endangered having only 82 members of its pod. This community of orcas is called the Southern Resident Community. There …show more content…

They thrive on social interaction and being a part of a community or pod. Typically, Resident pods will have a stable population with its members appear to have never left or joined another population except for death and birth. Transients tend to have two sized pods, large or small. Based on studies, the bond between the Resident pods is called a matriline. What this means is that this pod have a strong bond with one another and the population consists of connected maternal descendants. A matriline can have one generation but range up to four or five generations in its pod. The pod size can range between each community; the sizes range from about 7 members to about 100. The eastern North Pacific Ocean pods have a size of about 100 members while Transient pods only have a pod size of about 7, usually consisting of all males. Resident pods usually have a pod size ranging from 5 to 50 members. Alaskan and Antarctican pods have been documented to range from 100 to 2,500 members. It was noted that the migration of prey played a part in the pod sizes. It is also said that mating and social interactions could cause these larger

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