killer whales have slender mouths, sharp teeth, fierce temperaments, carnivores, good at attacking prey, and are natural enemies of penguins, seals and other animals. Sometimes they also attack other cetaceans, even great white sharks, can be called the king of the sea.

Killer whale swimming

Killer whales often jump on the waves, peeping, etc. , or slap the water with its caudal or pectoral fins. In the shallow waters of the bay, it also likes to use the nicks in its tail to hook and pull seaweed, making a whoosh sound, and soon it will be covered in translucent seaweed. Killer whales can swim as fast as 55 kilometers per hour and can hold their breath for about 17 minutes. Their low, dendritic jets are usually visible when the surrounding air is cool. The water column of killer whales is sloping, thick and short, unlike baleen whales, which are thin and tall. Their reactions to boats can vary from indifference to inquisitiveness. There are occasional mass strandings, and groups are sometimes trapped in tide pools or bays. In the Arctic and Antarctic waters, ice floes that are rapidly created by the wind are a problem for killer whales, sometimes forcing them to stay in small, narrow waters for extended periods of time.

Killer whale sound

If the humpback whale is the singer among cetaceans, and the beluga whale is the canary in the sea, then Killer whales are the language masters among cetaceans. They can make 62 different sounds, and these sounds have different meanings. For example, when preying on fish, it will make an intermittent sneezing sound, which is similar to the sound of pulling the hinges of rusty iron doors and windows. became abnormal. Killer whales can not only emit ultrasonic waves to find fish through echoes, but also judge the size and swimming direction of fish through ultrasonic waves. This ability is very important for carnivores living in the ocean. It is very dark under the sea, and it is difficult to see the distant prey targets in this environment.

Killer whale groups

Killer whales like to live in groups, with small groups of 2 to 3 animals and large groups of 40 to 50 animals. Staying quietly on the surface of the water for 2 to 3 hours, because the lungs are filled with enough air, it can float safely on the sea surface, exposing its huge dorsal fin. The pectoral fins between members of the group are constantly in contact, showing affection and unity. If a member of the group is injured or loses consciousness in an accident, other members will come to help, using the body or head to support the top, so that it can continue to float on the sea, even when sleeping, it is also tied into a pile. This is to look after each other and maintain a certain level of sobriety. They travel and eat together, use the population as a social organization, rest in large families, and rely on each other to survive and grow.

Killer whale social ancestry

Sedentary killer whales located in Washington State and British Columbia, the basic social unit is a small maternal group, generally Consisting of 2 to 9 closely related killer whales, this matrilineal group remains stable for a long time, and all members seem to share parenting. Several of these groups will work together to form a small group (usually used to describe a group of cetaceans that are socially connected to each other), and a typical small group usually consists of adult and juvenile male and female killer whales and juveniles, mostly composed of the youngest. Older females are in the lead, and males in smaller groups are usually the offspring of that female. Some male killer whales even grow to 9 meters and live in small groups.

The social form of killer whales is matrilineal, and the choice of mating objects is more complicated, not everything is determined by the strength of the male: for example, the patriarch of the whale group can sometimes live to 80 years old, and there are also examples of mating in later years. The objects selected for mating are generally older males within the group. The standard scientists on which female whales choose objects are not clear, and they rarely observe the mating scene. They only know that there is a mother, and they do not know where the father is.

There is no father-son relationship or father-daughter relationship in the whale group. The male's responsibility is to go out to find food, and then guide the whale group to hunt in groups. The division of labor is clear and there is no status. The mother-daughter relationship is very Stability is a life-long relationship, generally not outliers. Orphan whales are usually caused by injury or getting lost. When the ethnic group is too large, it will divide and generate a new ethnic group.

Killer whale hunting

Sometimes killer whales hunt in groups, using the The ultrasonic waves emitted by the group will communicate and communicate with each other and plan tactics. They also work together to swarm the fish into a large ball, and then take turns burrowing in to feed. When hunting fur seals, killer whales will observe the crevices and ditches leading to the beach before the high tide. When the tide is high, the ditches will fill with water and form a shallow water on the beach. And deliberately stranded themselves to take advantage of the opportunity to prey on seals or sea lions. Sometimes a killer whale will show its large dorsal fin to attract the attention of the seal group, then another killer whale will quietly approach to kill the seals. A killer whale will rush to take over the prey. Similarly, killer whales sometimes float on the sea surface with their abdomens up and motionless, much like a corpse, and when squid, seabirds, sea beasts, etc. approach it, they suddenly turn over and open wide. They eat them with their mouths, and sometimes use their tails to knock out prey, such as sea lions, before preying.

The diet of killer whales includes fish, other cetaceans, pinnipeds, sea otters, birds, reptiles and cephalopods. Of the 362 stomachs of killer whales collected in Antarctica, 217 contained fish, 75 contained remnants of minke whales, 35 contained pinnipeds, and 35 contained cephalopods.

The powerful brain and body of killer whales allow these highly intelligent animals to chase and kill many of the ocean's top predators. Some members of the killer whale family have at least nine shark delicacies listed on their menus, including the great white and mako sharks that frighten many animals.

Ingrid Vesal, an orca expert who has studied orcas behavior for 17 years, said: The most impressive strategy is the karate-style palm split. Killer whales use their tails to drive sharks out of the water without even making physical contact with the sharks. Using the lift generated by their tails, they are able to create a vortex that places the shark on top of the current it creates as it moves. Once the prey is out of the water, the killer whale turns its body while sticking its tail out of the water, and then attacks the shark like a karate slash. ”

After stunning the shark, the killer whale will grab the shark and turn it over. This is obviously an unbelievable tactic and shows that the killer whale knows its opponent very well. After a quick flip, the shark went into a state of paralysis, a so-called stasis of muscle tone, and was left to be killed by the killer whale.

Visa, from Tutukaka, North Island, New Zealand said: Orcas don't understand the physiology of sharks, but the behavior they exhibit does suggest that they know what a given action will bring. You don't have to know how a car works in order to drive, all you need to know is what to do to get it moving. Likewise, killer whales seem to know that once the shark is flipped over, they lose their ability to fight back. What killer whales do is take advantage of themselves. In killer whales, scientists have also observed other methods of attack, including surrounding, that is, the whale group surrounds a lone shark and then precesses frontally, or quietly approaches from below, taking advantage of its unpreparedness to quickly attack. The lower abdomen of the shark.

Vesal said: Usually, the killer whale will turn the shark over, and the shark is unable to fight back. A successful hunt is over, and the last thing to do is to Enjoy the fruits of your labor. We don't think killer whales specifically plan to go out and hunt sharks. Foraging in the ocean is not an easy task, and when the opportunity presents itself, they attack sharks mercilessly. ”

【Range of Killer Whales】

Found in Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbu Da, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei, Cambodia, Cameroon Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Cocos Islands, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, C?te d'Ivoire, Cuba, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Ecuador (Galapagos), El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Fu Crane Islands (Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Heard Island and Macdonald Islands, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kiribati, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mexico, Federated States of Micronesia, Monaco, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russian Federation, Saint Helena, Ascension and Terry Standa Cunha, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Africa Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, United Republic of Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Aleutian Islands, Hawaiian Islands, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, United States, Wallis and Futuna Islands, Western Sahara, Yemen.

Traveler: Germany.