Wildlife Wednesday - Orcas Part 1

It's Wednesday! Time to learn about a new animal! This week we're talking about Manny's favorite animal, the Orca! He's even more excited because we're going to be talking about him and his family for 2 weeks!

Ready for the the first week of orca facts?
orcas & humpbacks by Christopher.Michel, on Flickr
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License  by  Christopher.Michel 

Orcas, also known as killer whales, are the largest species of the dolphin family.

The term killer whales comes from the fact that orcas are known to hunt and eat other dolphins and small whales.
Orcas are found in all of the world's oceans. The only mammal that has a wider range of habitat is humans.
Orca by TheGirlsNY, on Flickr
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License  by  TheGirlsNY 
Orcas can reach speeds of 35 mph.
Orcas have no sense of smell.
Orcas can grow up to the length of a bus.
Victorious Orca by digicla, on Flickr
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License  by  digicla 

These animals have no natural predators, except for the very young which are sometimes attacked by large whales and sharks. Their only threat is humans
Their teeth are about 4-5 inches long and they have 40-50.

orcas & humpbacks by Christopher.Michel, on Flickr
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License  by  Christopher.Michel 
The orca has the 2ndheaviest brain of any marine mammal.  Their brains are 4 times larger than human brains.
Killer whales eat up to 5% of their body weight each day, that's about 500 lbs of food.
Orca by TheGirlsNY, on Flickr
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License  by  TheGirlsNY 
Pods hunt cooperatively, in a manner reminiscent of wolves.
Orcas use echolocation, bouncing sound off objects to determine location, when they are hunting.

For more on orcas read Part 2, where we discuss the different types of  pods orcas live in.
Back to blog