Killer Whales

The orca or killer whale is a toothed whale that is an efficient predator, even attacking huge young blue whales.
Their only enemy is human beings.
Orcas live in small, close-knit, life-long pods and have 1 blowhole.
The killer whale belongs to the family of dolphins and is the biggest dolphin.
It is sometimes called the "wolf of the sea" because its behavior is similar to that of wolves.

HABITAT AND RANGE

Orcas whales live in waters ranging from tropical to arctic, and both coastal and deep oceanic waters.
They are found in all the world's oceans and most of the seas.
Orcas sometimes enter estuaries, but don't go far from the sea.

Orcas live in small pods of 6-40 whales; they are very social animals.
The bonds between the close-knit members of Orca pods are strong and last for life.

The members of a pod hunt together in a very sophisticated manner, attacking even very large prey and then sharing it.
The pod members protect the young, the sick and the injured.

DIVING, BREACHING, SPYHOPPING, AND TAIL SLAPS

Orcas can dive to a depth of 100 feet (30 m) in order to hunt. Orcas commonly breach (swim at very fast speeds toward the surface in order to rise above the surface of the water and then fall back onto the surface, splashing and making noise).

Spyhopping (poking the head out of the water to look around) and tail slapping are also common orca activities.
The purpose of these activities is unknown.

SPOUTING - BREATHING

Orcas breathe air at the surface of the water through a blowhole located near the top of the head.
Their blow is a single, low bushy cloud.

SPEED

Orcas are very fast swimmers, they can swim up to 30 mph (48 km) in bursts in order to catch prey.

VOCALIZATION

Orca vocalizations include clicks used in echolocation, whistles, and scream-like pulses, the sounds are used to communicate with other orcas, for mating purposes, and for locating prey.
Different pods (long-lasting groups of orcas) have distinctive "accents" and can recognize members by this accent.