The Killer Whale Brief provides basic information about this animal. Where does the killer whale live? What does it eat? Also, the Story about the killer whale contains interesting facts.
Killer Whale: A Story for Children
Killer whale- a large predatory mammal of the dolphin family, the only modern representative of the genus of killer whales. This is the largest predatory dolphin.
Description of killer whale
Males can be up to 10 m long, and females - 7 m. The weight of the killer whale reaches 8 and 4 tons, respectively. The streamlined body resembles a torpedo. Above and on the sides, the body is black.
There are white oval spots above the eyes and a white “saddle” above the dorsal fin. Part of the ventral side of the body and the lower jaw are white.
Both jaws are armed with sharp teeth. The massive head has a conical shape. The powerful tail fin has two horizontal lobes. Wide, very strong pectoral fins look like oars.
Where do killer whales live?
Killer whales are found in all oceans of the globe, preferring cold waters. They rarely swim in warm seas. A thick layer of subcutaneous fat and a dense network of blood vessels provide them with excellent thermoregulation, which saves them from both overheating and hypothermia.
Killer whale: lifestyle
Killer whales live in family groups. The leader is the oldest and most experienced female. The group consists of 5 to 20 individuals who recognize each other by sound signals and are completely subordinate to their leader. In the event of the death of the leader, the group breaks up. Her daughters with their offspring form new groups, and the males remain alone.
With highly developed intelligence, killer whales never show hostility towards members of their family. The meeting of two different flocks is always accompanied by joyful congratulations and general fun.
Animals literally jump out of the water for joy. Also, the giants loudly slap their tail and pectoral fins on the water.
Orca: what does it eat?
The basis of the diet of killer whales is fish. Predators hunt them in a flock.
The prey of killer whales is found thanks to ultrasonic signals. When they find a school, they surround it and try to panic the fish. The frightened fish scatter, and the predators greedily eat it. They also hunt cephalopods, sea lions and seals. Occasionally dolphins and baleen whales become their prey. They usually attack children and sick animals.
The insatiable gluttons also feed on seabirds. For example, up to 50% of the king penguin population falls prey to them during their annual marches.
Killer whale: breeding
The female gives birth to offspring every three years. Each time she looks for a gentleman from a different pack. Pregnancy lasts 16-17 months, after which one cub is born. The cub is born weighing about 180 kg. The length of its body reaches 2.2-3 m. The first year the calf feeds only on mother's milk.
In the second year of life, killer whales begin to get used to other foods. They grow very quickly, but are constantly under the close supervision of their mothers, who do not allow them to swim too far from the pack.
The female reaches sexual maturity at 6-7 years of age, but continues to grow until the age of 10. Males grow up to 20-25 years old and become sexually mature only up to 10-14 years old. The first offspring in females usually appears only at 12-14 years old, and the reproductive age lasts up to 40 years.
Killer whale: interesting facts
The life span of a killer whale in natural conditions is about 50-60 years old... But biologists also met long-livers, up to 90 years old.
The population size is currently approximately 52,000 individuals.
The memorable color actually blurs the outlines of the predator in the water, as a result of which it seems much smaller than it really is.
The daily energy requirement of a killer whale is about 290,000 kcal, which is equal to about half a sea lion carcass daily.
Well-fed killer whales often hunt for sport, eating only the best pieces as sacrifices. So in king penguins they eat only the muscles of the chest, and in whales they gnaw out lips, tongue and subcutaneous fat.
The teeth of the killer whale reach 13 cm.
The topic and the friend's hint in the comments brought up the following question for me. For some reason I was sure that this animal in the photo was KRASKAT... I was convinced of this by the numerous sites that inspire confidence. However, everything turned out to be not so simple. What you see in the photo is WITTER all the same.
The scythe (Latin Orcinus orca) is an aquatic mammal of the dolphin family, the only modern representative of the genus of killer whales.
Latin orca supposedly comes from the Greek. ὄρυξ - with this word Pliny the Elder designated a certain predator, which could be either a killer whale or a sperm whale. The killer whale is called killer whale because of its reputation as a dangerous predator.
The Russian name, presumably, comes from the word "scythe", which resembles the high dorsal fin of males. The spelling variant "killer whale" is widespread, but it is not used in special zoological literature.
But what is or who is this KERATOR I'll tell you now ...
And here she is and the ORANGE - barn swallow (Hirundo rustica), a bird of the order of passerines. The upper side of the body and the stripe on the chest are black with a blue tint, the forehead and throat are reddish-brown, the abdomen is white or rusty. Body length 18-23 cm. Extreme tail feathers in the form of narrow thin plaits (hence the name).
The Killer Whale is distributed in Europe, North Africa, Asia and North America; in the USSR - everywhere south of the forest-tundra. Migrant. Nests on buildings near human habitation. A cup-shaped nest of lumps of dirt mixed with saliva is attached under a canopy. Breeds chicks twice during the summer. It is useful in exterminating flies and other flying insects.
Their flight does not resemble the undulating rectilinear movement of other passerines. He is extremely swift, replete with frequent, instant throws in different directions and unexpected, sometimes steep, sometimes smooth turns. In all these respects, the killer whale is superior to other species of swallows we meet. The voice of the killer whale is most often heard when building nests and hatching chicks. At this time, the males constantly publish their simple song, which is a short chirping with a crumbly trill at the end. At any time of the year, barn swallows emit a loud, sharp two-syllable cry, which serves as an alarm signal.
All of Europe from the Mediterranean in the south to 71 ° N. NS. in Scandinavia and Finland in the north. In the USSR, up to the middle reaches of the Pechora, 61 ° N. NS. in the Urals, 65 ° on Obii, 64 ° on the Yenisei. On the Lena River, the barn swallow, apparently, does not go below Yakutsk, but on the Kolyma it reaches 68 ° N. NS. Further, the border approaches the northern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk (Okhotsk, Gizhigisk) and captures Kamchatka.
In America, the northern border begins at the northwestern tip of Alaska and runs through North Meckenzie (Great Bear Lake) and South Manitoba to Central Quebec. In the south of this continent, the border crosses North Carolina and Alabama, Tennessee, North Arkansas, South Texas and California. Also captures Nayariti Yalisco in Northern Mexico. In Asia, the southern border runs from about. Kyushu through southeastern China to Yunnan, Northern Burma, Kahar, Manipur, Northern India, the Persian Gulf, Lebanon, Egypt and Nubia to Cyrenaica, Algeria and Tunisia.
The wintering area of the killer whale covers Central and South America from southern Mexico to northern Argentina and central Chile. In the eastern hemisphere, the killer whale overwinters in Africa from Sudan and Nubia to the Cape of Good Hope, in India, southern China, the Sunda and Philippine Islands, and New Guinea.
Numerous flights are known to the north and west up to Greenland, Yanmay-yen, Iceland (where it may even occasionally nest; Molyneux, 1930), Faroe and
Bear Islands, Spitsbergen, Islands. Franz Joseph, Novaya Zemlya, Timan tundra, Fr. Kharlov, the Yenisei Gulf and the Atlantic Islands (Azores, Canary, Madeira).
The killer whale overwinters in East India, Burma, South China, Indochina, the Sunda Islands, the Philippines, New Guinea, and occasionally in Australia (Becker, 1926).
Nesting in North America, individuals overwinter in an area stretching from Mexico to Brazil, northern Argentina and central Chile.
Within the former Soviet Union, the killer whale is only a nesting bird and flies away from us for the winter. It can be assigned to the category of vagrant, non-nesting species only in very small areas lying beyond the northern edge of the nesting area. At the southern administrative borders of the Union - in the Ukraine, the Caucasus and Central Asia, it can be considered to a large extent a passing species, since the total number of nesting birds is clearly inferior to the mass of migratory birds here.
Under natural conditions, the barn swallow is associated with caves and therefore adheres to mountains (but not particularly high altitudes) and river valleys bordered by rocky shores. At present, the swallow has almost completely switched to nesting in human buildings.
The killer whale has become so closely accustomed to humans that human settlements have become its main nesting biotope. At the same time, the killer whale settles not particularly willingly in big cities. It is much more willing to settle in small settlements, sometimes even individual farms. Here she predominantly chooses not particularly large, wide-open buildings such as stables, sheds, mills, terraces, etc.
Under natural conditions, the killer whale is occasionally found in the mountains, but does not rise too high and nests in fairly light and shallow caves. Following a man, he rises into the mountains to heights of 1200-1300 m near Kislovodsk, along Aragve, near Tbilisi (Lorenz, 1887; Radde, 1884; Tsvetkov, 1901). In the Greater Caucasus, it was found at an altitude of 2400-3000 m (Radde, 1884). Similar figures - 2500 m - are also given for Armenia (Leister and Sosnin, 1940).
In Central Asia, in the Gissar ridge, the barn swallow goes up to an altitude of 1800-2000 m (Ivanov, 1940). In the Eastern Tien Shan, it rises to 1200 m near Alma-Ata, 1700 - at Issyk-Kul and 2140-on Naryn (Shnitnikov, 1949). For Altai, an altitude of 1100 m is indicated as the maximum (Sushkin, 1938). In all cases, the presence of water in the immediate vicinity is a prerequisite. Forage biotopes are diverse: meadows, pastures, river valleys, and the vicinity of settlements. It is only important that these are open spaces overgrown with grass or small shrubs. The swallow avoids forests.
In the Far East, it predominantly lives in river valleys, inhabiting there in Russian settlements. At present, he settles in Korean and Chinese fanzas, but he is more willing to choose Russian settlements, apparently preferring their architectural features.
In Siberia, the swallow adheres to Russian villages and towns with wooden houses. In Mongolia, it is confined to villages and monasteries. In addition, sometimes it nests here and in natural conditions on the cliffs along the river banks.
The barn swallow is one of the very common birds in all parts of its range, with the exception of deserts and highlands. It does not form large colonies, but at least several pairs of killer whales usually live in almost every small village. After departure, young flocks reach up to several hundred. Particularly numerous flocks can be seen near the southern borders of Ukraine, the Caucasus and Central Asia, where thousands of killer whales fly daily during the autumn migration.
There are known cases of mass death of killer whales within our borders. They are marked for both spring and fall time. Death occurs from a sharp cold snap, in some cases with rain or snow, in others without it. At the same time, the temperature does not always fall below zero. Cases of mass death of killer whales at temperatures of + 5 ° and + 6 ° are known (Karamzin, 1901). The main cause of death is hunger due to the absence of flying insects. The swallows stop flying and sit ruffled on the tops of bushes and tall grasses. In the fall, they are often hammered into buildings, gather in dense masses and fall into a state of daze.
And here is Utesov's song :-)
sources
A collision with a killer whale does not bode well - not only small inhabitants of the seas and oceans know about this, but also such bloodthirsty predators as sharks. Killer whales are smarter, smarter, bigger and stronger. And they also have a well-developed herd instinct, and they are quite capable of standing up for each other.
Killer whales are carnivorous marine mammals from the genus of killer whales, which belongs to the dolphin family of the cetacean order. They swim in the waters of the entire World Ocean, less often they can be seen in the tropics, more often in cold and temperate latitudes. They feel great both near the coastline and in the open ocean, but they are trying not to move more than eight hundred meters from the coast.
Although there are no exact data on their number, it is known that most of them live in Antarctica - about 80 thousand individuals (for comparison: in the Pacific Ocean about fourteen thousand, near Norway - one and a half).
There are three types of killer whales in total:
- Big - the largest of all killer whales. The length of males often reaches ten meters, while females are two meters less. Dolphins weigh about nine and seven tons, respectively. This type of killer whale is rightfully considered the most dangerous and bloodthirsty.
- Black - a killer whale is absolutely black, can reach six meters in length, weighs one and a half tons, prefers to live in temperate latitudes;
- Pherese or dwarf - a dark gray dolphin about two meters long, feeds on small fish and is extremely rare.
Description
The killer whale is one of the most powerful predators in the ocean with a strong build, large, short, flat head and large mouth with powerful chewing muscles that provide a strong bite and a weak beak.
In the mouth of the predator, there are 44 massive teeth about thirteen centimeters long, with the largest of them having a diameter of 30 to 50 mm. They sit very firmly in the jaw and are perfectly adapted to rip and eat large prey (interestingly, they are all in the back of the mouth).
Killer whales are primarily recognizable by their contrasting black and white color. The shape and color of the spots is often so individual that it gives people the opportunity to distinguish predators from each other: skin tone largely depends on the area where the killer whale swims and the algae growing there. For example, in arctic waters, the spots become yellow-greenish, sometimes brown.
Another feature of the predator is its very high fin: in males it is straight and often reaches one and a half meters in height, in females it is twice smaller and bent. The pectoral fins are also interesting: while in other dolphins they have a sickle-pointed shape, in the killer whale they are oval and wide.
But vision, like many inhabitants of the sea, the predator has weak, but has excellent hearing, thanks to which it is able to detect prey even at very great depths. The organ located on the forehead, which is used by the killer whale as a sonar, is responsible for recognizing sounds. After a sound wave breaks against an object, it emits an echo, which the killer whale detects, recognizes and identifies: an animal in front of it or a rock.
Way of life and nutrition
The world's largest dolphins live in flocks, which include one adult male, females with babies, elderly and sterile females. Black dolphins and killer whales are the only species whose females have menopause and live several decades after it. Considering that killer whales can live up to ninety years, four generations stay together in one flock and separate for only a few hours to find food.
Killer whales communicate with each other in a peculiar language, which consists of a special number and types of repetitive sounds and remains unchanged over a long period. Interestingly, each flock has its own language.
The killer whale is very voracious: it eats from 50 to 150 kg of food per day. Speaking about killer whales, it should be borne in mind that they are divided into sedentary and transit. The first species is more peaceful and eats mainly fish, the second is more bloodthirsty and hunts marine mammals, for which its representatives were called killer whales.
One of the main differences between migrating killer whales is that they communicate less by sound signals than sedentary ones, otherwise the prey will be able to hear them and leave. According to genome analyzes, these species have practically not crossed over the past 100 thousand years.
An interesting fact about sedentary killer whales is that she not only eats fish, but often prefers one variety - she eats only tuna, salmon or herring. Therefore, they do not attack large marine predators.
The fish are hunted in a flock (from 5 to 15 individuals), moving in even ranks, without disturbing the formation, at a speed of 5 km / h. During the hunt, killer whales become surprisingly silent, and the attack is so well coordinated that each predator knows its task exactly. As a result, killer whales drive the school of fish to the shore or, surrounding it from all sides, knock it into a ball, after which they take turns diving inside the school and choking off the prey with blows of their tail.
As for the transit killer whale, although this dolphin mainly eats fish and squid, it often preys on sea lions, whales, seals, penguins and sharks. Significantly fewer individuals take part in the hunt - from one to five, respectively, and their flocks are smaller.
When hunting for seals or penguins, killer whales dive under the ice floe on which the prey is located, and hit it from below to knock the animals into the water. But the whales are mainly hunted by males, who simultaneously attack a larger mammal at high speed and bite at the throat and fins, do not give the opportunity to swim to the surface.
But when hunting for female sperm whales, the tactics are different: they are not given the opportunity to go to the bottom.
Such consistency in actions is not surprising, since parents teach kids to hunt from an early age. One day, people managed to film a battle between killer whales and sharks when a flock of four adults and two young dolphins attacked a great white shark. Two killer whales attacked the shark with coordinated actions and sound signals. That one had no chances to escape: the battle did not last long - with the help of several blows and bites with powerful jaws, the whales dealt with it rather quickly.
After carefully reviewing the records, scientists came to the conclusion that this attack of killer whales on one of the largest predators of the ocean was carried out with the sole purpose of teaching young animals to hunt for larger prey. Numerous studies have shown that each flock has its own individual hunting techniques, which the older generation teaches the younger.
Reproduction and offspring
The breeding process of dolphins has been little studied. For killer whales, it is known that sexual maturity begins at the age of 12-14 years, the period between births lasts about three years, menopause - at forty. The average lifespan of females is fifty years. There are cases when they lived up to ninety (males live much less, up to thirty-five).
They avoid close relationships. Since all cetaceans in a flock are close relatives to each other, mating occurs only when several flocks are united into one (for example, for hunting). Males, in order to win the female, fiercely fight among themselves.
It is believed that pregnancy lasts about one and a half years, with births occurring mainly in the spring / early summer. The female gives birth to no more than six babies from 2.5 to 2.7 meters long. Little killer whales are very playful, constantly tumbling around adults, and they periodically throw them into the air with their heads.
Relationships with people
Despite the fact that many consider the largest dolphins to be deadly animals for humans, this opinion about killer whales is not entirely true: the facts that the killer whale ate any of the people is not recorded anywhere. By attacking one person, she might have dealt with him. But, obviously, being highly developed creatures, predators understand the danger posed by humans (perhaps not even in terms of power, but mental superiority), and therefore they attack very rarely: over the past twenty years, only one fact is known when one of the killer whales attacked a surfer ... He survived, but lost his leg.
The killer whale show, where dolphins act as stars, began to enjoy extremely special popularity: predators are intelligent, train well and, oddly enough, in captivity are quite peaceful even in relation to animals that are hunted in nature. Although in nature this predator without the slightest doubt will eat a simple dolphin or seal, if it is in captivity with them in the same reservoir, it does not show aggression towards its neighbors.
There are known facts of death of trainers who were preparing a killer whale show and were victims of the irritable mood of dolphins. A killer whale attack on humans can be caused not only because of aggression during the breeding season, but also because of the boredom that befalls all dolphins caught in the sea and accustomed to the vastness.
Captivity is extremely negatively reflected on dolphins: they develop various diseases that have arisen due to a passive lifestyle, obesity is observed, in males, the dorsal fin is bent to one side. Killer whales often become aggressive towards representatives of their own species (which is almost never observed in nature), as a result of which, after a collision, one of the individuals may die. Recently, environmentalists have been waging a very real war to ban performances (it should be noted that in some American states this has already been achieved).
Name
Latin orca presumably comes from the Greek. ὄρυξ - with this word Pliny the Elder designated a certain predator, which could be either a killer whale or a sperm whale. English name killer whale("Killer whale") the killer whale got because of its reputation as a dangerous predator.
The Russian name, presumably, comes from the word "scythe", which resembles the high dorsal fin of males. The incorrect spelling of "killer whale" is widespread, but it is not used in the special zoological literature ("killer whale" is also called one of the species of swallows).
A description of the species can be found in the tenth edition. Systema naturae Charles Linnaeus under the name Delphinus orca Linnaeus, 1758. The scientific name of the genus changed several times before it came to the modern stable variant Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758). The most common is the obsolete name Orca Gray, 1846. It was rejected as a junior homonym for the name Orca Wagler, 1830, proposed for another genus of dolphins (now Hyperoodon Lacépède, 1804) and replaced with the oldest suitable synonym: Orcinus Fitzinger, 1860.
The dorsal fin of the male killer whale is long and straight
Appearance
Killer whales are the largest carnivorous dolphins; differ from other dolphins in contrasting black and white color. Killer whales are characterized by sexual dimorphism: males reach a length of 9-10 m with a mass of up to 7.5 tons, females - 7 m with a mass of up to 4 tons. In addition, the dorsal fin in males is high (up to 1.5 m) and almost straight , and in females - about half as low and bent. Unlike most dolphins, the chest flippers of the killer whale are not pointed and sickle-shaped, but wide and oval. The head is short, flattened from above, without a beak; massive teeth, up to 13 cm long, adapted to tearing large prey.
Killer whale skull
The color of the back and sides of the killer whale is black, the throat is white, on the belly there is a white longitudinal stripe. In some forms of Antarctic killer whales, the back is darker than the sides. On the back, behind the dorsal fin, there is a gray saddle spot. There is a white spot above each eye. In the waters of the Arctic and Antarctic, white spots can acquire a yellowish-greenish or brownish hue due to the film of diatoms covering them. The shape of the spots in killer whales is so individual that it makes it possible to identify individual individuals. In addition, in the North Pacific Ocean there are completely black (melanistic) and white (albino) individuals.
Spreading
Killer whale off the coast of Norway
The killer whale is distributed practically throughout the entire World Ocean, meeting both near the coast and in open waters, but mainly adheres to 800 km of the coastal strip. It does not enter only the Black, Azov, East Siberian and Laptev Sea. It is less common in the tropics than in cold and temperate waters. In Russia, usually near the Kuril ridge and the Commander Islands.
Lifestyle and nutrition
In their natural habitat, killer whales do not attack a person, but they also do not show fear of him. Among the large predators, the killer whale is the most friendly animal towards humans. In captivity, they are peaceful, quickly get used to humans and are easy to train, and reproduce under favorable conditions. Usually killer whales do not show aggression towards dolphins and seals kept with them in the same pool, as well as towards humans, although isolated cases of attacks on trainers are known. They become irritable and aggressive only during the breeding season.
Population status and protection
There are no exact data on the total number. Local populations are estimated at 70-80 thousand individuals in Antarctica, 8000 - in the tropical latitudes of the Pacific Ocean, up to 2000 - off the coast of Japan, 1500 - in the northeast of the Pacific Ocean and 1500 - off the coast
Killer whale is the only cetacean predator that feeds on warm-blooded animals. Killer whales hunt in well-organized flocks, attacking even weakened blue whales.
SIZE
Length: males - 6.5-8 m, females - 5-6.5 m.
Weight: males up to 6,500 kg, females up to 4,500 kg.
REPRODUCTION
Puberty: from 8 years old.
Mating season: early winter.
Pregnancy: 16-17 months.
Number of cubs: 1.
LIFESTYLE
Habits: collective animals, kept in family herds.
Sounds: very varied.
Food: fish, cephalopods, marine mammals.
Life Expectancy: about 35 years old.
Whalers believe the killer whale is a bloodthirsty predator that is dangerous to humans. In fact, in the history of the relationship between humans and these mammals, only a few cases of killer whale attacks on humans have been recorded.
Breeding killer whales
Male killer whales are easily recognizable by their dorsal fin up to 170 cm high, which can be seen above the water. The female is smaller, her dorsal fin is no higher than 1 meter and has a crescent-shaped notch in the back. Males become sexually mature from 8-10 years old, females - 2 years earlier. There is little information about how killer whales mate.
During the mating period, males wage fierce battles for females. Then they perform mating dances.
Childbirth occurs in the spring or early summer. Is born only one cub... Its length is 2.1-2.7 m, and its weight is 180 kg. He is very playful. Often thrown over the head of parents, who are thrown high into the air. The mother feeds the cub for about 1 year.
The female is ready for mating no earlier than 3-4 years later.
Killer whale lifestyle
Killer whales are kept in family herds of 5-20 animals. Small groups are usually formed by one adult male with a female and calves. Large herds include 2-3 adult males. The female spends her entire life in one herd. Males regularly wander from one herd to another. When a group becomes very large, some of the males go with it and form a new herd.
Killer whales dive to a depth of 300 m, but are usually found near the surface of the water. When diving, they dive for about 30 seconds. They can stay under water for up to 4 minutes. Killer whales spend most of their time hunting, they also play willingly. Quite often the whole herd hunts together. At the same time, animals jump out of the water and noisily plunge into the depths of the water column.
These cetaceans usually do not attack humans (only the case of an attack on a trainer in the San Diego Oceanarium and an attack on a small yacht in the Caribbean Sea), but they also do not show fear in front of her, approaching whaling ships and boats.
Killer whale feeding
The killer whale is a dexterous and intelligent hunter. She uses a variety of hunting methods. The secret of a successful hunt lies mainly in the close cooperation of the entire herd.
The killer whale feels better off the coast than on the open sea. While searching for food, it emits sounds to which schools of fish that are nearby react. Having found a school of fish, killer whales drive it towards the shore, from where it has nowhere to run. They hunt seals in a similar way.
In the open sea, you can see killer whales jumping out of the water. So they examine the space around. The whole herd is involved in the attack on the great whale. Killer whales hunt in flocks of 3-4, and sometimes up to 30-40 individuals. During the attack, wolf packs behave - they attack the victim from all sides: some hold the victim by the tail so that it cannot hit them, others attack from the side of the head.
Killer whale in the wild
Speed: a killer whale is faster than a dolphin, it can reach speeds of up to 55 km / h, and its usual speed is 15 km / h.
Jaws: The jaws are very strong, but the killer whale cannot open them wide.
Teeth: the killer whale has massive teeth, flattened from front to back; in cross-section, their roots are quadrangular. The teeth sit very firmly in wide, strong jaws and are well suited for holding and tearing large prey.
The sound signals of killer whales are different: from a high variable tone to dull moans and screams, as in March cats. Among the signals of killer whales, there were no nicer whistles and squeaks, like those of dolphins, but distress signals were mentioned.
The killer whale is a fairly intelligent animal. The killer whale is easy to train and is able to perform various tricks, for example, it jumps into the air to its full height, plays with a ball, carries the trainer on the back, opens its mouth in which a person puts his head.
Characteristic features of a killer whale
Dorsal: in old males it is in the form of a narrow isosceles triangle 160-170 cm in height.
White spots: There are white spots above each eye. The white coloration of the throat behind the pectoral fins tapers into a strip in the middle of the belly and widens behind the navel by three ramifications.
Length: females 5-6.5 m, males 6.5-8 m. With the exception of the size and shape of the fins, animals of both sexes are very similar.
Caudal fin: very strong, helps the killer whale to reach a speed of 55 km / h.
Teeth: massive, 10-13 pairs above and below, flattened from front to back; in cross-section, their roots are quadrangular.
Killer whale habitats
Lives in all oceans from the Arctic to the Antarctic, where it goes far into floating ice.
Preservation. The killer whale is a common species and is not threatened with extinction. Sometimes it is hunted by fishermen, who believe that it destroys young fish. In the recent past, it was caught as an exhibit for oceanariums.
Killer whale video
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