Page 81 - World of Animals - Book of Sharks & Ocean Predators

Killer whales
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They are great team players They can hunt just
like bats
Killer whales form close-knit bonds with their fellow pod Killer whales can detect their next meal
members, which on average tends to number around
in murky water or even at night by
40 individuals. They do everything together, spending making clicking sounds and listening
their time travelling in search of food, playing, hunting for the resulting echoes. Studies have
and resting. They have developed some ingenious
collaborative tactics for capturing prey, including taking shown they can even pinpoint specifi c
prey using this technique. They use this
turns to chase down a victim until it’s exhausted and
creating waves to knock stranded animals off ice fl oes. same echolocation ability to navigate.
Unlike bats, orcas also have acute
vision, so they can use both senses
individually or together, depending on
the environmental conditions.
Every pod has its
own dialect
Very social creatures, killer whales use a
complex series of whistles, pulsed calls
and clicks to communicate with one
another. There are similarities in signals
across all groups, but nevertheless,
scientists have detected distinct
variations, not just between regions but
even from pod to pod.
They listen through Killer whales will
their jaws sometimes eat sharks
Although the orca’s physical ears are two Sharks usually sit quite comfortably
small holes located just below the eyes, at the top of the food chain, but even
several parts of the head contribute to they need to take care if killer whales
its hearing. It targets clicks in a beam are around. In 2014, marine biologists
from the bump on its head called the captured a video of an orca pod
melon, then perceives the majority of the harrying a tiger shark until it fl ipped
returning echoes via its fat-fi lled lower over. There have even been sightings of
jawbone, through which the vibrations orcas taking on great whites!
pass to the inner ears.
Black and white is perfect camoufl age
The killer whale’s patchy markings have evolved as a form They also eat moose
of disruptive colouration, masking their true outline to It might not seem the most likely of
deceive prey into thinking they are no threat, until it’s too
late. They are primarily black on their backs and white on prey for a marine mammal, but moose
their bellies, which also makes them harder to spot from and deer in Alaska have fallen victim to
either above or below. orcas when swimming between islands
and the mainland.

They’re not afraid to
venture onto land
Killer whales can go to great lengths to
catch their next meal, even intentionally
hurling themselves out of the water
and beaching themselves to catch
a sea lion or penguin lingering
temptingly close to the
waterline. Typically performing
this trick at high tide, they let
the waves carry them back
into the sea, though now
and then it can backfi re
Orcas are very sacred and they get stranded.
to many Native Their favourite delicacy is tongue
American tribes Sometimes killer whales will take on bigger
whales, even the largest animal ever to live –

Often referred to as blackfish, killer whales the blue whale. Only able to eat so much in one © Alamy; Ardea; Dreamstime; Thinkstock
appear in many legends and fables in sitting, they generally dine on the tongue and
Native American cultures. Some believe lips and leave the rest. That said, in the case
of the blue whale this is no small snack, as its
orcas were the reincarnated spirits of
tongue is big enough to fit a line of 50 people!

young tribesmen lost at sea.
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