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Southern Resident orcas. Latest news about orcas. Shocking footage of captive orca butting head against wall 15th September Kiska is a wild caught Icelandic orca who has spent the last four decades in A young female orca in the wild may expect to live a long life in Will we ever see an end to whale and dolphin captures in Russia?
Between late summer New babies bring hope for orcas on the edge of extinction 29th September A silver lining of this strange year was the news that Tahlequah, the orca who Load More. Please help us save Orcas. Adopt Adopt an orca and help us protect these amazing creatures. Adopt an Orca. But Barret-Lennard and Spong agree that scientists and the wider public should be more concerned about understanding killer whales, their behaviour and their role in the oceans, rather than focusing on their names.
For the record — as you may have noticed — CBC's policy is to use killer whales and orcas interchangeably. You can get it now for free at CBC Podcasts. Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted.
By submitting a comment, you accept that CBC has the right to reproduce and publish that comment in whole or in part, in any manner CBC chooses. Please note that CBC does not endorse the opinions expressed in comments. Comments on this story are moderated according to our Submission Guidelines. Comments are welcome while open. We reserve the right to close comments at any time. There were many reports beginning in the summer of of orcas ramming into and causing damage to sailing boats off the coast of Spain and Portugal, according to BBC News.
Three juvenile male orcas were involved in most of the attacks, and marine biologists investigating the incidents believe that the young males were playing with the boats by targeting the rudders and pushing the boats around. Orcas are very social creatures and live in family groups called pods, which have up to 50 members, according to the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web ADW.
These pods are made up of related mothers and their descendants, known as matrilines. A male orca will stay with its mother for life, while daughters may spend time away after having calves of their own, according to the wildlife charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation WDC.
Pods often have their own distinctive calls, or dialects, to communicate, but they will associate with other pods and can come together to form even larger, temporary groups.
A female killer whale will give birth to one offspring at a time every three to 10 years. The gestation period usually lasts for around 17 months according to SeaWorld. Orcas work together to take care of the young, and other females in the pod will often help with the rearing.
Female killer whales have an average life span of 50 years, but some individuals are estimated to have lived up to years. Males live shorter lives, with an average life span of 29 years and a maximum life span of 60 years, according to the Center for Whale Research in Washington state.
Killer whales are the most widely distributed mammals, other than humans and possibly brown rats, according to SeaWorld. They live in every ocean around the world and have adapted to different climates, from the warm waters near the equator to the icy waters of the North and South Pole regions. Orcas have been known to travel long distances. For example, one study found that a group of orcas traveled from the waters off of Alaska to those near central California, according to IUCN — a distance of more than 1, miles 1, km.
All orcas are currently listed under one species, Orcinus orca. However, there are recognizable differences between populations, and biologists have identified several distinct forms, known as ecotypes, which may actually be different species or subspecies, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA. Killer whale ecotypes can vary in size, diet and behavior.
In the North Pacific, scientists have identified resident orcas, which tend to have small ranges — hence the name — and specialize in catching fish.
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