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This section contains : Scientific Classification, Habitat and Distribution, Physical Characteristics, Senses, Adaptations for an Aquatic Environment, Behavior, Diet and Eating Habits, Reproduction, Birth and Care of Young, Communication and Echolocation, Longevity and Causes of Death, Bibliography, real movie of a live birth at SeaWorld Florida, pictures
In order to watch the REAL movie of the live birth, you need to download REAL PLAYER (C)
The scientific order Cetacea
includes all whales. This large order is further divided into three suborders:
the toothed whales or Odontoceti (killer whales, dolphins, porpoises, beluga
whales, and sperm whales), the baleen whales or Mysticeti (blue whales, humpback
whales, gray whales, and right whales, and the Archaeoceti (which are all now
extinct).
Dolphins and their immediate
kin are included in the scientific family Delphinidae. Bottlenose dolphins,
common dolphins, and Pacific white-sided dolphins are all delphinids. The killer
whale is the largest delphinid.
Modern forms of both odontocetes and mysticetes appear in the fossil record five to seven million years ago. Scientists believe that early whales arose 55 to 65 million years ago from (now extinct) ancient land mammals that ventured back into the sea.
Odontoceti
killer whale, Orcinus orca
Mysticeti
gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus
Archaeoceti
The scientific order Cetacea is further divided into three suborders: the Odontoceti, the Mysticeti, and the Archaeoceti.
1. Killer whales inhabit all the oceans of the world. They are most numerous in the Arctic, the Antarctic, and areas of cold water upwelling.
2. Killer whale distribution
is limited by seasonal pack ice.
Killer whales are found in both the open ocean and coastal waters.
Migration of fish and other
prey accounts for movements of killer whales to and from certain areas.
1. The worldwide population of killer whales is unknown. Specific killer whale populations in a few areas have been estimated. For instance, in some areas of the Antarctic alone, their numbers are estimated at about 180,000.
2. Killer whales are not endangered.
3. Most researchers agree that regional groupings of killer whales exist.
a. Analysis of killer whale call patterns has demonstrated substantial differences between the sound repertoires of different pods.
b. In the future, analyzing biochemical and chromosomal characteristics may help define genetic relationships among pods and regional populations of killer whales. Call patterns, body shape, and coloration are currently used in identifying separate killer whale populations.
4. Researchers have recently learned to recognize many individual killer whales from photographs, especially of their dorsal fins. Photo-identification promises to be an important new research tool for studying various aspects of cetacean biology, including movements, reproduction, behavior, and population dynamics. Photo-identification has the potential to document the lives of individual whales in great detail.
a. Researchers take photographs when the whale rises highest out of the water as it breathes normally and exposes the most markings on the back and dorsal fin.
b. Studying the photos, these researchers must be skilled at recognizing subtle differences in whales' body appearance.
c. The features they use for identification include dorsal fin shape and relative size, pigmentation patterns, scars, deformities, detail of tail fluke edges, encrustations, and blemishes.
5. In the North Pacific, researchers categorize pods of killer whales into transient-type whales and resident-type whales, based on physical and behavioral characteristics.
a. The size of resident pods varies from as few as 5 to as many as 50 individuals. Transient pod size varies between 1 and 7 individuals.
b. Resident pods tend to travel within specific ranges while transient pod ranges are unpredictable. In the Pacific northwest, there are two communities of resident pods: a northern community and a southern community.
c. Food preferences of resident and transient pods differ. Resident pods eat a wide variety of fish and rarely seek out marine mammals. Transient pods primarily eat marine mammals and will occasionally eat fish.
d. Research has shown that resident pods have a wider sound repertoire than transient pods.
1. Male killer whales average 22 to 27 ft. (6.7-8.2 m) and usually weigh between 8,000 and 12,000 lb. (3,628-5,442 kg).
2. Females average 17 to 24 ft. (5.2-7.3 m) and usually weigh between 3,000 and 8,000 lb. (1,361-3,628 kg).
3. The largest male ever recorded was 32 ft. (9.75 m) and weighed 21,000 lb. (9,524 kg). The largest female recorded was 28 ft. (8.5 m) and weighed 15,000 lb. (6,803 kg).
4. As a male killer whale
approaches adulthood, it acquires typical male characteristics: it gains weight,
and its pectoral flippers, dorsal fin, and flukes grow larger than those of
females.
A killer whale has a sleek,
streamlined, fusiform body.
1. Killer whales are easily recognized by their distinctive and striking coloration.
2. The dorsal surface and pectoral flippers are black, except for the area below and behind the dorsal fin.
3. The ventral surface, lower jaw, and undersides of tail flukes are mostly white. The undersides of the tail flukes are fringed with black.
4. A white "eyespot" is located just above and slightly behind each eye.
5. A distinct boundary separates black and white areas.
6. A gray saddle is located just behind the dorsal fin.
7. The size and shape of a killer whale's white areas and gray saddle vary among regional populations.
8. The distinctive coloration
of killer whales is a type of disruptive coloration, a camouflage in which the
color pattern of an animal contradicts the animal's body shape. By the flickering,
filtered sunlight of the sea, other animals may not recognize a killer whale
as a potential predator.
1. A killer whale's forelimbs are pectoral flippers. Pectoral flippers have the major skeletal elements of the forelimbs of land mammals, but they are foreshortened and modified.
2. The skeletal elements are rigidly supported by connective tissue. Thick cartilage pads lie lengthwise between the bones.
3. Pectoral flippers are rounded and paddlelike.
4. Killer whales use their pectoral flippers mainly to steer and, with the help of the flukes, to stop.
5. Blood circulation in the flippers adjusts to help maintain body temperature.
a. Arteries in the flippers are surrounded by veins. Thus, some heat from the blood traveling through the arteries is transferred to the venous blood rather than the environment. This countercurrent heat exchange aids killer whales in conserving body heat.
b. To shed excess body heat, circulation increases in veins near the surface of the flippers and decreases in veins returning blood to the body core.
6. A large male killer whale
may have pectoral flippers up to 6.5 ft. (2 m) long and 4 ft. (1.2 m) wide.
1. Each lobe of the tail is called a fluke.
2. Flukes are flattened pads of tough, dense, fibrous connective tissue, completely without bone.
3. Longitudinal muscles of the back (both above and below the spine) and caudal peduncle move flukes up and down.
4. Like the arteries of the flippers, the arteries of the flukes are surrounded by veins to help maintain body temperature.
5. A large male killer whale
may have tail flukes measuring up to 9 ft. (2.7 m) from tip to tip.
1. All traces of hind limbs have disappeared except for two reduced, rod-shaped pelvic bones, which are buried deep in the body muscle.
2. These reduced hind limbs
are not connected to the vertebral column.
1. Like the flukes, the dorsal fin is made of dense, fibrous connective tissue, with no bones.
2. The dorsal fin acts as a keel, stabilizing a killer whale as it swims.
3. As in the flukes and the flippers, arteries in the dorsal fin are surrounded by veins to help maintain body temperature.
4. In adult males, the dorsal fin is tall and triangular. It may reach a height of 6 ft. (1.8 m).
5. In females, the dorsal fin is smaller and may be slightly falcate (curved back). It reaches a height of 3 to 4 ft. (0.9-1.2 m).
6. Both male and female killer whales may have irregular-shaped dorsal fins, sometimes leaning to the left or the right.
1. A killer whale has an indistinct rostrum (snoutlike projection).
2. Teeth are conical and interlocking.
a. They are designed for grasping and tearing rather than chewing.
b. The number of teeth varies among individuals. There are usually 10 to 14 teeth on each side of the jaw (40-58 teeth total).
c. Teeth are about 3 in. (7.6 cm) long and about 1 in. (2.5 cm) in diameter.
3. The eyes, about the same size as the eyes of a cow, are on each side of the head, just behind and above the mouth.
4. Ears, located just behind the eyes, are small inconspicuous openings, with no external ear flaps or pinnae.
5. A single blowhole, located on the dorsal surface of the head, is covered by a muscular flap. This flap provides a water-tight seal.
a. A killer whale breathes through its blowhole.
b. The blowhole is relaxed in a closed position. To open the blowhole, a killer whale contracts the muscular flap.
1. Swimming speed and duration are closely tied: high-speed swimming probably lasts only seconds while low-speed swimming may last indefinitely.
2. Killer whales are among the fastest swimming marine mammals. They can swim at speeds of up to 30 mph (48.4 kph), but they usually cruise at much slower speeds, between 2 and 6 mph (3.2-9.7 kph).
3. Killer whales are very agile and maneuverable in the water.
4. When swimming at the
surface, a killer whale usually stays below water for 30 seconds or less.
1. Killer whales generally dive to depths of about 100 to 200 ft. (30.5-61 m). The deepest dive under experimental conditions is to 900 ft. (274.3 m).
2. When diving, killer whales usually surface about every four or five minutes. At the surface they generally take two to five breaths at five- to ten-second intervals before another dive.
3. Longer dives have been observed. The longest observed dive in the ocean is 12 minutes. Under experimental conditions, killer whales have made dives lasting up to 15 minutes.
4. All marine mammals have special physiological adaptations used during a dive. These adaptations enable a killer whale to conserve oxygen while it's under water.
a. Killer whales, like other marine mammals, have a lower heartbeat while diving.
b. When diving, blood is shunted away from tissues tolerant of low oxygen levels toward the heart, lung, and brain, where oxygen is needed.
c. The muscle of killer whales has a high content of the oxygen-binding protein myoglobin. Myoblogin stores oxygen and helps prevent muscle oxygen deficiency.
1. A killer whale breathes through a single blowhole on the dorsal surface of its head.
a. The whale holds its breath while below water.
b. It opens its blowhole and begins to exhale just before reaching the surface of the water.
c. At the surface, the whale quickly inhales and closes the muscular flap.
2. As a killer whale exhales, seawater that has collected around the blowhole is carried up with the respiratory gases. Seawater and the water vapor condensing in the respiratory gases as they expand in the cooler air form the visible blow of a killer whale.
3. Killer whales have a breath-hold period that is longer than a human's, and they exchange more lung air with each breath.
4. The resting respiratory
rate of killer whales at Sea World is about three to seven breaths every five
minutes.
1. Killer whales deposit most of their body fat into a thick layer of blubber that lies just underneath the skin. This blubber layer insulates the whale and streamlines the body. It also functions as an energy reserve.
2. A killer whale's core body temperature is about 97.5 F (36.4 C). There is a heat gradient throughout the blubber to the skin.
3. A killer whale's circulatory system adjusts to conserve or dissipate body heat and maintain body temperature.
a. Arteries in the flippers, flukes, and dorsal fin are surrounded by veins. Thus, some heat from the blood traveling through the arteries is transferred to the venous blood rather than the environment. This countercurrent heat exchange aids killer whales in conserving body heat.
b. When a killer whale dives, blood is shunted away from the surface. This decrease in circulation conserves body heat.
c. During prolonged exercise or in warm water a killer whale may need to dissipate body heat. In this case, circulation increases to veins near the surface of the flippers, flukes, and dorsal fin, and decreases to veins returning blood to the body core. Excess heat is shed to the external environment.
4. The killer whale's fusiform body shape and reduced limb size decreases the amount of surface area exposed to the external environment. This helps killer whales conserve body heat.
1. Killer whales live in groups called pods.
a. The size of a pod usually varies from less than 5 to about 30 individuals.
b. A pod is a cohesive long-term social unit.
c. A pod usually consists of males, females, and calves of varying ages.
2. Several smaller pods may join occasionally to form larger groups of 50 or more individuals called herds or aggregations.
3. There is an occasional
exchange of members between pods, especially during breeding season.
1. Killer whales in a pod appear to establish strong social bonds. Behavioral studies suggest that certain animals prefer associating with one another.
2. As with most species, there is a social hierarchy within a group of killer whales. This social hierarchy is female-dominant. The animals may rank themselves and establish dominance by slapping their tails against the water, head-butting, jaw-snapping, and various other vigorous postures and gestures.
3. Killer whales often hunt
together.
Killer whale behavior includes spyhopping (hanging vertically in the water with the head partially above water), breaching (jumping clear of the water and landing on the back or side), lobtailing (slapping the tail flukes on the surface of the water), and pec-slapping (slapping a pectoral flipper on the surface of the water).
Killer whales have been
known to mass strand. As with other whales, the reason for these strandings
is unknown. Stranding is not the same as intentional beaching for pursuing prey.
Other marine mammals, such as minke whales, Dall's porpoises, and seals, have been observed swimming with killer whales, but they may be prey of killer whales at other times.
1. Killer whales are the top predators in the ocean.
2. They are active predators. Opportunistic feeders, their diet varies from one region to another.
a. In the Antarctic, killer whales eat about 67% fishes, 27% marine mammals, and 6% squids.
b. Killer whales in the Bering Sea (near Alaska), eat about 65% fishes, 20% squids, and 15% marine mammals.
c. Food preferences of resident and transient pods in the North Pacific differ.
3. They eat a variety of fish, including salmon, cod, flatfish, hake, herring, and smelt.
4. They also eat other
marine mammals and seabirds. Killer whales prey on both mysticete and odontocete
whales, seals, sea lions, walruses, and occasionally sea otters and penguins.
Adult killer whales eat
approximately 3% to 4% of their body weight in food per day; fully weaned
calves can eat up to approximately 10% of their body weight during growth
periods.
1. Much like packs of wolves or prides of lions, killer whales often hunt cooperatively in pods for food. They work together to encircle and herd prey into a small area before attacking.
2. Killer whales may slide out on sand bars or ice floes to pursue prey. They may also surface under ice floes to knock prey into the water.
3. Killer whales don't chew their food. They swallow their food whole or tear it into large chunks.
Studies of killer whales
in marine zoological parks suggest that females become sexually mature when
they reach about 15 to 16 ft. (4.6-4.9 m), at about 6 to 10 years. Males become
sexually mature when they reach abaout 18 to 20 ft. (5.5-6.1 m), at about 10
to 13 years. Comparably collected field data is not available.
1. Females come into estrus or "heat" several times during the year.
2. Breeding may occur in any season, but is most common in summer. In the North Atlantic, mating seems to peak in October and November; in the western North Pacific, mating seems to peak between May and July.
1. On September 26, 1985 at SeaWorld of Florida, a killer whale gave birth to a female calf: Baby Shamu. Baby Shamu is the first killer whale successfully born and raised in a zoological environment.
2. On February 2, 1993, at SeaWorld of Texas, the first second-generation killer whale calf was born. The male calf is the offspring of the very first killer whale born and raised at SeaWorld.
3. Several more calves have been born at SeaWorld parks in Florida, San Diego, and Texas.
4. SeaWorld's killer whale breeding program is the most successful in the world. The program has allowed scientists to learn a great deal about killer whale reproduction, growth, development, and learning.
Gestation is about 17 months.
Calves are born throughout
the year.
Based on limited data collected
from populations at sea, a female may bear a calf every five years.
Calves are born in the water.
Deliveries can be either tail-first or head-first. The umbilical cord snaps
during or soon after delivery.
1. The calf is about 8 ft. (2.4m) long and weighs about 300 to 400 lb. (131-181 kg).
2. The light areas of some young killer whales may be creamy white to lemon yellow rather than white. This color usually turns white by the age of one year.
3. In the first few days
after birth, the dorsal fin and tail flukes gradually stiffen.
a. The calf suckles from nipples concealed in abdominal mammary slits.
b. At SeaWorld, killer whale calves begin nursing several hours after birth.
c. Calves nurse below water, close to the surface. The mother glides in a horizontal position with her tail arched, and the calf swims on its side with its mouth on the right or left mammary gland.
d. Calves nurse for about 5 to 10 seconds at a time, several times an hour, 24 hours a day.
e. The mother's milk is very rich so that the baby rapidly develops a thick, insulating layer of blubber. The fat content of the mother's milk increases as the calf develops. It ranges from about 28% to 48%.
f. A calf may nurse for 12 months.
2. A mother killer whale stays close to her calf and attentively directs its movements. The baby swims close to its mother and can be carried in the mother's "slip stream," a type of hydrodynamic wake which develops as the mother swims. This helps the baby swim with less energy and enables the mother and calf to keep up with the pod.
3. While most maternal behavior
is probably instinctive, first-time mothers are inexperienced at nursing their
calves. At SeaWorld, the experience level of some first-time pregnant females
is increased through training procedures that teach them to respond to nursing
behavior.
1. Killer whale breeding colonies in marine zoological parks continue to provide a unique opportunity to observe and quantify aspects of their biology.
a. A killer whale calf's upper teeth erupt at about two to four months. The lower teeth erupt at about three to five months.
b. Calves begin to take a few fish at about three to four months. They eat solid food consistently at about four to five months.
c. By the age of one year, calves at SeaWorld eat 50 to 60 lb. (23-27 kg) of herring, smelt, and squid every day.
d. Calves grow about 2.6 ft. (80 cm) during their first year, and about 2.2 ft. (67 cm) during their second year.
2. Calves can vocalize within days of birth, but sound production is shaped with age.
3. In studies at the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, scientists have determined the following.
a. Vocal behavior is not predetermined. Calves learn during the course of development which calls to make and under what circumstances.
b. Calves are most likely to develop calls like those of their closest associates (usually the mother).
c. Stereotyped calls develop between 5 months and 1 year of age.
Killer whales probably rely
on sound production and reception to navigate, communicate, and hunt in dark
or murky waters. Under these conditions, sight is of little use.
1. Odontocetes can produce sounds for two overlapping functions: communicating and navigating. A killer whale can communicate and navigate at the same time.
2. Killer whales produce clicks and sounds that resemble moans, trills, grunts, squeaks and creaking doors. They also produce "whistles." They make these sounds at any time and at all depths. The sounds vary in volume, wavelenght, frequency and pattern.
3. Each individual sound that a killer whale makes is termed a call. Calls that sound the same way time after time are stereotyped calls. All the stereotyped calls in a killer whale's repertoire make up a vocalization system called a dialect.
a. Although scientists have noted that there is some type of ordering or structure to the calls, a dialect is not the same thing as a language.
b. The individuals of any particular pod share the same repertoire of calls.
c. Pods that associate with one another share certain calls, but the vocal repertoires of each pod remain distinct enough that scientists can identify pods by the sounds they make.
d. Killer whales that are separated by great geographical distances have completely different dialects.
4. The larynx of toothed whales does not possess vocal cords.
5. Sounds are probably produced by movements of air between nasal sacs in the blowhole region. During some vocalizations, killer whales actually release air from the blowhole.
6. The frequency of the
sounds produced by a killer whale ranges from about 0.1 kHz to about 40 kHz.
Most sounds produced as a part of social behavior range in frequency to about
16 kHz. Higher frequency clicks probably function primarily in echolocation.
1. The term echolocation refers to an ability that odontocetes (and some other marine mammals and most bats) possess that enables them to locate and discriminate objects by listening for echoes. Odontocetes echolocate by producing clicking sounds and then receiving and interpreting the resulting echo.
a. Killer whales produce directional clicks in trains. Each click lasts from less than one to about five milliseconds. Clicks include a wide range of frequencies. A 25-kHz peak is common. Individuals can probably vary the peak frequency to suit the circumstances.
b. The click trains pass through the melon, (the rounded region of a killer whale's forehead) which consists of lipids (fats). The melon acts as an acoustical lens to focus these sound waves into a beam, which is projected forward into water in front of the whale.
c. Sound waves travel through water at a speed of about 1 mile per second (1.6 km/sec), which is four and a half times as fast as sound traveling through air. The sound waves produced by a killer whale bounce off objects in the water and return to the killer whale in the form of an echo.
d. High frequency sounds don't travel far in water. Because of their longer wavelength and greater energy, low frequency sounds travel farther.
e. The major areas of sound reception are the fat-filled cavities of the lower jaw bones. Sounds are received and conducted through the lower jaw to the middle ear, inner ear, and then to hearing centers in the brain via the auditory nerve.
f. The brain receives the sound waves in the form of nerve impulses, which relay the messages of sound and enable the killer whale to interpret the sound's meaning.
2. By this complex system of echolocation, odontocetes can determine size, shape, speed, distance, direction, and even some of the internal structure of objects in the water.
3. Many of the details of echolocation are not completely understood. Research on echolocation continues.
1. Researchers believe that the average killer whale lifespan is between about 25 and 35 years.
2. About 40% to 50% of wild-born
calves die before reaching one year of age.
As a killer whale ages,
it periodically produces growth layer groups of dental material. Age can be
estimated by examining a sliced section of a tooth and counting these layers.
These estimations are most accurate in young whales, before the tooth's pulp
cavity fills in. Researchers are currently investigating new tooth-aging methods.
Killer whales are a top
predator in the sea. Healthy adult killer whales have no natural predators,
but sharks prey on older, younger, or ill killer whales.
Coastal killer whales are
more likely to be affected by pollution, competition with humans for limited
stocks of fish, and other environmental factors.
Killer whales and other whales may suffer from viral, bacterial, and fungal infections. In addition, they may develop stomach ulcers, skin diseases, tumors, heart disease, and respiratory disorders.
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