Diet: Orcas are carnivorous meat-eating predators. They primarily prey upon marine mammals such as seals , sea lions, and even whales - using their sharp teeth that can be four inches ten centimeters long. They are known to grab seals right off the ice.
They also eat seabirds, fish, and squid. The whales in the Puget Sound region are know as fish-eating "resident" killer whales - since they tend to eat primarily fish, catching salmon, schooled herring or rockfish. While those in the open ocean are called mammal-eating "transient" killer whales - they regularly travel several hundred miles hunting for seals, sea lions, and other large mammals. An adult orca consumes pounds of food a day, depending on the animals size and energy needs.
Behavior: Like all dolphins, orcas use sophisticated biological sonar, called echolocation. Echolocation enables them to locate and discriminate objects underwater. The vocalizations within a whale community are distinct and different from those in other communities, serving to keep the pods together. The calls also bring the pods together over large expanses of water when it is impossible for the whales to see each other.
Their large bodies are streamlined hydrodynamic , like a submarine, for moving through the water. Since you're so all-knowing, maybe you could settle this little bet for us: what is the fastest animal in the sea, and how do they measure the speed?
There's a mondo pizza on the line in all this. A: Just about everyone who spends time on, in, or under the sea has his own candidate for speed champion of the ocean. But speed in the water is extraordinarily difficult to measure, and most debates quickly degrade to heated speculation or run aground for lack of reliable data.
The physics of swimming is rather complicated, heavy and opaque with symbol-dense mathematics. Factors affecting an organism's speed through the water include: overall size and shape; the nature, size and shape of propulsive organs siphon, fins, flukes ; the type of muscle powering these organs and the conditions under which they operate.
See the accompanying sidebar, ' Factors Affecting Speed in Water ', for more details. The accompanying table shows the maximum speeds measured or reliably reported for a variety of marine life.
Unless indicated otherwise, the figure listed is underwater swimming speed in miles per hour mph. Wherever possible I have erred on the side of caution, since in most cases a precise, measured course and method of controlling the speed trials or participants was not available at the time the data were recorded.
Measuring the speed of a marine animal against the known velocity of a boat or ship has long been a popular method, but one which is fraught with difficulties. For centuries, it was thought that dolphins could swim faster than ships, hence their ability to overtake the fastest vessels and remain in front of them. We now know that a pressure wave is created in front when a ship moves through water, enabling dolphins to be pushed forward and surf-ride the slope of a breaking bow wave.
Because they are easily captured and trained, dolphins have been clocked over measured distances and their actual speeds recorded. The 17 mph record for the Bottlenose Dolphin is based on U.
The fastest dolphin recorded during U. Navy trials was for a more slender species, the Pacific Spotted, whose maximum sprint speed of Most large sharks are cold-blooded and cruise at a leisurely 1. Because most species fare poorly in captivity, the maximum swimming speed of a shark has seldom been measured. The Blue Shark is an open ocean glider, planing on wing-like pectoral fins and flattened belly. Common Name: Orca Killer Whale. Scientific Name: Orcinus orca.
Type: Mammals. Diet: Carnivore. Group Name: Pod. Size: 23 to 32 feet. Weight: Up to 6 tons. Size relative to a bus:. Data deficient. Least Concern Extinct. Current Population Trend: Unknown. This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our photo community on Instagram. Follow us on Instagram at natgeoyourshot or visit us at natgeo. Share Tweet Email. Go Further. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city.
Animals This frog mysteriously re-evolved a full set of teeth. Typically, a Blue Whale will swim at a speed of 14 miles per hour, far faster , in comparison, to the Sperm Whale, which travels much slower at 6 miles per hour. However, the Blue Whale is able to swim as fast as thirty miles per hour for short periods, for example when it is fleeing potential danger. No other animals except for humans hunt orcas. Killer whales feed on sea birds, squid, octopuses, sea turtles, sharks, rays and fish.
They also eat most marine mammals, such as seals and dugongs. Killer whales Orcinus orca are the moose's only known marine predator as they have been known to prey on moose swimming between islands out of North America's Northwest Coast, however, there is at least one recorded instance of a moose preyed upon by a Greenland shark.
Because of their size, power and speed, adult blue whales have virtually no natural ocean predators. However, there are very few reports of orcas actually killing blue whales. Killer whales know how to work with humans —and save them—but humans have rarely been inclined to help the killers.
The whales off Saturna knew what humans usually did when they came close in their boats. The humans shot them. Large sharks prey on dolphins , they particularly target very young calves and sick adult dolphins as these are the weakest and most vulnerable individuals.
Clocked at speeds in excess of 68 mph , some experts consider the sailfish the fastest fish in the world ocean.
Easily recognized, sailfish are named for the spectacular sail-like dorsal fin that extends for nearly the entire length of their silver-blue body. Dolphins and whales are closely related.
Orcas were given the name ' killer whale ' by ancient sailors' observations of groups of orcas hunting and preying on larger whale species. They called orcas asesina ballenas, or ' whale killer ' — a term that was eventually flipped around to the easier ' killer whale '.
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