killer whale (scientific name: Orcinus orca) is a large toothed whale with a body length of 8 to 10 meters and a weight of about 9 tons. And upright, curved up to 1 meter; body black and white. The two wing bones are far apart. The temporal fossa is large. The mandible is relatively short. There are 10 to 12 conical teeth in each row of teeth in the upper and lower jaws. It has a slender mouth, sharp teeth, and a ferocious temperament. It is a carnivore and is good at attacking prey. It is the natural enemy 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 whales are highly social animals, and some groups form families that are some of the most stable in the animal kingdom. Some of the complex social behaviors, hunting skills, and vocal communication of killer whales are considered evidence that killer whales have their own culture. Found in almost all oceanic regions, from equatorial to polar waters. Water temperature or depth does not limit its range. Distribution extends to many enclosed or semi-enclosed seas such as the Mediterranean Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, Gulf of California, Gulf of Mexico, Red Sea and Persian Gulf.

[The appearance characteristics of killer whales]

The adult male killer whale is the largest in length The record is 9.75 meters and weighs 9524 kilograms. It is the largest of the dolphins. Body size, flipper size, and dorsal fin height are distinctly sexually dimorphic. The maximum body length of females is 7.70 meters, and the length of males is 9 meters. The male adult dorsal fin is erect, up to 1.0 to 1.8 meters high, the female dorsal fin is obviously sickle-shaped, less than 0.7 meters high. The head is slightly rounded with an inconspicuous beak. The oval flippers are located at the front 1/4 of the body's full length. The length of the flippers of males can reach 20% of the total body length, and that of females can reach 11% to 13%. The width of the caudal lobe can exceed 1/5 of the full length of the body. The back of the body is black, with a light gray saddle spot behind the dorsal fin. The mandible and the ventral surface of the body from the front of the mandible to the urogenital area are white. There is a white leafy spot extending upward from the urogenital area to the body side behind the dorsal fin. The ventral surface of the caudal lobe is white or light gray, possibly with a black margin. There is a white oval spot on the upper back of each eye. The saddle spot is less pronounced when young and becomes more pronounced after sexual maturity.

The length of the condyle base of the adult skull can be up to 1000mm. The width of the two premaxillas in front of the preorbital fovea is smaller than the width of the snout. The two wing bones are far apart. The temporal fossa is large. The mandible is relatively short. There are 10 to 12 teeth on each side of the upper and lower jaws, which are oval in cross-section and have cusps inward and backward. In some older individuals, the teeth are often damaged by abrasion or canker.

Killer whales are large, spindle-shaped, with a smooth surface and a thick layer of fat under their skin to conserve body heat. The body length is about 600 to 1000 cm and the weight is 5000 to 000 kg. The color of the body is clear black and white, the back is lacquer black, but there is a saddle-shaped gray-white spot behind the fins, and there is a fusiform white spot behind each of the eyes, and most of the ventral surface is snow-white. The head is round, without a protruding snout, the nostrils are on the right side of the top of the head, and there is a valve that can be opened and closed freely. When it floats to the surface, it opens the valve to breathe, and sprays a foam-like aerosol when it encounters the sea. The cold air above becomes a column of water. The forelimbs become a pair of fins, which are very developed, and the hind limbs degenerate and disappear. The strong triangular dorsal fin towering in the center of the back is very conspicuous. The male beast can reach a height of 1.5 meters. It is not only an offensive weapon, but also acts as a rudder. The mouth is very large, with a total of 40 to 50 large conical teeth on the upper and lower jaws, which can swallow a sea lion whole.

Male killer whale body length (longest): 9.8 meters; weight (heaviest): 9000 kg

Female killer whale body length (longest): 8.5 meters; weight ( Heaviest): 5500 kg

Newborn killer whale body length (longest): 2.1-2.4 meters; weight (heaviest): 180 kg

【Orca habitat Environment]

The habitat of killer whales is mainly polar and temperate waters. Widely distributed in the seas of the world, the North Sea of Japan and Iceland, there seems to be no obvious restrictions on factors such as water temperature and depth. They have fairly high habitat densities at high latitudes, especially in seas where prey is plentiful. Their movement is generally associated with tracking prey or increasing predation rates, usually during fish spawning season and seal production. In summer, most killer whales in the Atlantic live on the edge of floes or in waterways with floes, feeding on baleen whales, penguins, seals, etc.

Where and how far they will migrate remains to be seen. Some killer whales stay in Antarctic waters year-round, while those in the Arctic rarely get close to the ice floes. According to killer whale researchers in Washington State and British Columbia, there are two types of populations, resident and transit, which can be found throughout the year. Some individuals have a very large range of activities. The results of the identification of photos from various places found that some killer whales ranged from Alaska to California in the southern United States.