Orca Whales facts

While investigating facts about Orca Whales In Captivity and Orca Whales Eat Moose, I found out little known, but curios details like:

There are only 4 recorded instances of people being killed by orcas, all by captive whales - and 3 of the deaths involved the same whale, Tilikum.

how orca whales give birth?

Lolita, the killer whale, has been kept in Miami Seaquarium since 1970. The orca is 20 ft long, and her tank measures 60 by 80 ft by 20 ft deep. Her only company for 10 years was Hugo, who died after a brain aneurysm caused by repeatedly banging his head on the tank windows.

What do orca whales eat?

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what does orca whales eat. Here are 50 of the best facts about Orca Whales At Seaworld and Orca Whales Puget Sound I managed to collect.

what orca whales eat?

A sleeping Killer Whale (Orca) pod (approx. 6-30 whales in a pod) breathes in unison - they form a tight circle, then surface for air and re-submerge as one, while sleeping!
Only three known mammals experience menopause - orcas, short-finned pilot whales and humans.
Killer Whales don't attack/eat people and the deaths caused by Orcas in captivity might have been caused by "playing too rough" or "stress".
There are at least 10 different types of Orca (Killer) Whales
The killer whales of Eden were a group of Orcas known for their co-operation with human hunters of other whale species. The killer whales would find target whales, shepherd them into Twofold Bay, and then alert the whalers to their presence and often help to kill the whales.
About "Old Tom", an Orca that would help whalers kill baleen whales in exchange for the tongues and lips of the kills (the "Law of the Tongue")
Orca whales have very large and developed brains - they can communicate in different dialects, feel a wide range of emotions, and they have shown self-awareness.
Killer Whales, aka Orcas, are actually not whales--they're the largest member of the Dolphin family.
Orcas will attack a blue whale, who outweigh them by several hundred ton, just for funsies.

orca whales facts — What kills orca whales?

Why orca whales are endangered?

You can easily fact check why are orca whales called killer whales by examining the linked well-known sources.

Killer Whale is a mistranslation of Whale-Killer - Orcas are part of the dolphin family and hunt whales - source

"Shamu", Sea World's famed Killer Whale, has been dead since 1971 and they just recycle the name for new Orcas in their shows. - source

Orca whales will float on their sides at night and watch the Northern Lights.

A wild orca by the name of old Tom worked along side whalers for almost 40 years. His skeleton is in a museum and you can see that his teeth have worn down to the jaw from holding harpoons that were lodged in whales. - source

When is the best time to see orca whales in washington?

Humans are one of only 3 mammals, orcas and pilot whales being the others, that undergo menopause.

How long do orca whales live?

In a Stanford study on children’s memory, 60 preschool and elementary children virtually swam with two orca whales, and when interviewed a week later, at least half of the kids couldn't distinguish between what they really did and what they did in the computer simulation.

Scientists have defined 2 separate races of Orca whales that over the last 100,00 years have developed separate breeding, feeding and cultural traditions.

The Orca Whale, Keiko, who played Willy in the famous 90s movie 'Free Willy' died just a year after been released into the wild in 2002 following a campaign to release the Orca from captivity.

There has only been 1 incident of an orca (Killer whale) killing a human in the wild.

Orcas are actually dolphins and called "killer whales" because ancient sailors witnessed groups of them hunting and killing larger whales.

What does it mean when you dream about orca whales?

Whales found in the Arabian Sea include blue whales, humpback whales, Minke whales, sperm whales, and orca whales.

Whales found in the Argentine Sea include the Orca whale, the Humpback whale, the Southern Right whale, and the Blue whale.

Marine life in the Southern Ocean includes blue whales, orcas, fur seals, penguins, colossal squids, leopard seals, and albatrosses among several other species.

A 103 year-old whale named "Granny" is the oldest Orca whale in "all the oceans".

There are multiple types of orcas (killer whales) including a type that has only been examined once and spotted less than 10 times in the wild. It has tiny eyepatches, an elongated head, and bizarrely shaped fins.

How big are orca whales?

Orca whales spend most of their time deep underwater, which protects them from sunburn. Because the whales at SeaWorld spend so much time close to the surface they get burned. The workers then cover the burned skin with black zinc oxide so that people can"t see the burns and skin damage.

Orca whales kept in captivity tend to live much shorter lives than those in the wild.

Orcas, also known as Killer Whales, are a natural predator of the moose and elk families.

Orca Whales are the most widely distributed mammals on Earth, other than human beings. The reason is because they are well adapted to live in various climates and they tend to travel large distances, with some pods travelling more than 1200 miles.

The Norwegian Sea is home to orca whales, humpback whales, minke whales, and sei whales.

Orcas ( Killer Whales) are not a whale, but the largest species of dolphin! They were initially called "whale killers" after being observed displaying this habit. Over the years it was flipped to Killer Whales.

Granny, an orca, estimated by some whale researchers to be 104 years old, had been captured with the rest of her pod in 1967 but was too old at that time for a marine mammal park, so was released. In 1967, Granny was estimated to have been born in 1911.

Old Tom, A wild Orca who helped whalers hunt other whales in exchange for scraps and trimmings of the kill.

Besides humans, the only predators of blue whales are orcas and great white sharks.

All dolphins are carnivores (meat-eaters). Smaller dolphins eat fish and squids, while large dolphins like orca eat seals, sea lions and other type of dolphins and whales.

This is our collection of basic interesting facts about Orca Whales. The fact lists are intended for research in school, for college students or just to feed your brain with new realities. Possible use cases are in quizzes, differences, riddles, homework facts legend, cover facts, and many more. Whatever your case, learn the truth of the matter why is Orca Whales so important!