Born to Be Wild

As I mentioned a few times, the movie Blackfish is about killer whales stuck in captivity at local attractions such as Sea World. It really sickens me to see such a beautiful creature living in conditions like that. In the wild, whales swim hundreds of miles a day. Sea World provides a tank for them to stay in overnight. To these whales, its just like a bath tub. How is that even morally okay? Being stuck in the same tank and swimming endless circles can LITERALLY make these animals go psychotic and act out. Not only is it cruel and inhumane for these animals, it is a danger to anyone who is exposed to them. They claim that they care for these animals but clearly their only main priority is putting on a good show.

In 2013, a worldwide event called Empty The Tanks took place in 9 different countries.
21 locations of captivated marine mammals were set free.

Killer Whale Feeding

As most of us know, the killer whale is one of the world's top predators. Their diet is a large variety of other animal such as fish, squid, seals, penguins, polar bears, sharks, and even smaller whales. On an average day, a whale will consume 500 pounds of food and spend 60% of their time finding food. In rare occasions, land mammals have been found in the stomach of killer whales. The whales help each other hunt food while they are gathered in pods and each take turns to eat their prey.

Check out this video of how they capture and eat their prey!

The above facts were found at http://www.killer-whale.org/what-do-killer-whales-eat/

Life Span and Characteristics

On average, killer whales live up to 70 to 90 years in the wild.
If you've ever seen the movie Blackfish, there is a scene where sea world employees falsely inform their audience about a whale's life span. They say that they live to about 30 years old. This is ONLY the case because they are stuck in captivity with cruel conditions. 
  The males grow up to 23-27 feet and the females grow up to 20-22. 
As adults, they can weigh anywhere from 3-11 tons! 

Killer whales are most commonly found in the arctic and antarctic ocean but have also been frequently spotted of the west coast of the United States and Canada. 

The above information was found at http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/species/Orca.shtml

Communication

The Orcas are incredibly social animals. They travel in large pods to form groups that can contain up to 100 or more whales. These groups are always led by a female Orca. These animals have a complex form of communication that they use to interact with other pods. This form of communication is called echolocation. In this type of communication, the whales bounce sounds of objects so that they know where they are located. This is especially beneficial when hunting for food.


I found this awesome video that explains communication between cetaceans in the ocean. About halfway through they discuss Orca communication!

The above facts were found at http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/killer-whale/ 

Orca vs Human

Many people tend to underestimate the beauty and importance of fascinating animals such as the Orca killer whale. Not only is the Orca one of the world's most powerful predators, they are also one of the world's most emotional beings. The paralimbic region in a whales brain happens to be a much larger elaboration of the emotion-processing system that we as humans do not have. When these animals are processing their emotions they are doing something much more sophisticated then we will ever be capable of doing. The species has shown an impressive amount of understanding in problem solving, symbolic language, and memory which is quite rare among most mammals. 

The above facts were found at: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/killer-whale/