World Orca Day

1. Orcas are often called killer whales. This name came from when people in the past saw them hunting whales larger than themselves. They called them whale killers. Over time this was flipped and changed round to killer whales instead.

2. They are not fish but mammals, and are the largest members of the dolphin family, which are toothed whales. This means they can’t breathe under water and have to come up to the surface to breathe.

3. Orcas can grow up to about 10 meres in length, although females are a bit smaller than males. A male’s dorsal fin can be up to 1.8 metres tall, which is really quite tall (and about the size of an adult human!)

4. Orcas are easy to spot from other dolphins because of their striking colouring. They are black on top and white on the bottom. This dark/light colouring is quite common in other sea creatures too as it helps them camouflage in the water. Other creatures looking down might not spot them in the dark water and creatures looking up might not spot them against the light of the sun shing through the water.

5. Orcas are found in every ocean of the world, and even live in icy cold water. They are one of the most widespread creatures in the world and can even be found living off the coast of Scotland.

6. All dolphins are thought to be very smart. Orcas are incredibly clever and are thought to be one of the most intelligent creatures on the planet. They can solve difficult problems, use tools really effectively and have clear emotional intelligence too (this means they can understand emotions really well, which many animals would not be able to do).

7. Orcas use echolocation for navigating the oceans and hunting their prey. This is where they make clicking sounds that bounce off objects, allowing them to work out distances, as well as the shapes and sizes of the things around them.

8. Orcas live and hunt in close family groups called pods. These are usually led by a female grandmother orca! They communicate through a range of clicks, whistles, squeals and squeaks. A bit like humans speaking in different languages, orcas have different ‘languages’ unique to just their pod. Calves are well cared for by their mothers and the rest of the pod. Most orcas stay with their mothers for life.

9. Orcas are apex predators, which means they have no natural predators in the wild. They will eat many different things, hunting fish, seals, penguins, sea lions, sharks and they still do hunt other large whales.

10. Orcas don’t chew their food and eat it in one big gulp instead, swallowing fish, small seals, penguins and sea lions whole! They only use their teeth if tackling something bigger.