It's Wednesday! Time to learn about a new animal! This week we're talking about Manny's favorite animal, the Orca! He's even more excited because we're going to be talking about him and his family for 2 weeks!
Ready for the the first week of orca facts?
by Christopher.Michel Orcas, also known as killer whales, are the largest species of the dolphin family.
The term killer whales comes from the fact that orcas are known to hunt and eat other dolphins and small whales.
Orcas can reach speeds of 35 mph.
Orcas have no sense of smell.
Orcas can grow up to the length of a
bus.
These animals have no natural
predators, except for the very young which are sometimes attacked by
large whales and sharks. Their only threat is humans
Their teeth are about 4-5 inches long
and they have 40-50.
The orca has the 2nd
heaviest brain of any marine mammal. Their brains are 4 times larger than human brains.
Killer whales eat up to 5% of their
body weight each day, that's about 500 lbs of food.
Orcas eat fish, squid, penguins, otters, turtles, seals and sea lions. They also hunt sharks and even other whales. Different orca populations seem to
specialize the type of food they hunt
Pods hunt cooperatively, in a manner
reminiscent of wolves.
Orcas use echolocation, bouncing sound
off objects to determine location, when they are hunting.
For more on orcas read Part 2, where we discuss the different types of pods orcas live in.
For more on orcas read Part 2, where we discuss the different types of pods orcas live in.