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Orca - Killer whale
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This thread is for information, pictures and videos of orcas. When posting only photos, it would be more interesting if there is also some story about that photo if photo doesn´t show something spectacular/extraordinary.
This is older news from New Zealand, where orcas hunted group of sharks to the shore so, that some shark(s) actually swam to the beach to flee. Some astonishing photos from 2013, where an orca is hunting and catching a bottlenose dolphin off the coast of Mexico.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2377154/Eight-ton-orca-leaps-15ft-air-finally-capture-dolphin-hour-chase.html 
I will leave this link here too: https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-the-lar...orded-orca
There is many information about the size of the orca in that topic, just for reference. Incredible pictures @Shadow!!! That orca is "flighing"!!! 
(08-27-2019, 12:40 AM)GuateGojira Wrote: I will leave this link here too: https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-the-lar...orded-orca Those photos are really amazing. And that story also is interesting to read. But seeing that big animal jumping something like 3-4 meters up in that way is amazing. I noticed, that there were threads for size and then for intelligence, but not this kind of overall thread as there are for so many other animals. And orca is one of the most impressive predators there is. Very interesting in so many ways.
Interesting article concerning "type D" orcas.
Quote: "At the bottom of the world, in some of the roughest seas, live mysterious killer whales that look very different from other orcas. Now, for the first time, scientists have located and studied these animals in the wild. The orcas are “highly likely” to be a new species, says Robert Pitman, a researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The scientific team made the finding in January about 60 miles off the coast of Cape Horn, Chile, at the very tip of South America—a region with the “world’s worst weather,” Pitman adds. These orcas, referred to as type D killer whales, were previously known from amateur photographs, fishermen’s descriptions, and one mass stranding—but never encountered in their natural state by cetacean experts. Unlike the other known types of orcas, they have a more rounded head, a pointier and narrower dorsal fin, and a very small white eye patch. They’re also several feet shorter in length, Pitman says. (See exclusive underwater video of type D orcas.)" Whole article and photos+video. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/03/new-killer-whale-species-discovered/
This article belongs here, I think. First known adult blue whale hunted and killed by orcas.
Quote: ""It's incredible and it's got colleagues overseas where the blues are studied a lot very excited about what is going on off our south coast. "It's big news in the marine mammal world globally. "To document an adult blue whale being killed by killer whales is a world first." https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-09/blue-whale-blood-bath-as-orcas-strike/10982708  *This image is copyright of its original author
Another article about same case as in previous posting of mine. Quite interesting incidents.
https://www.earthtouchnews.com/natural-world/predator-vs-prey/australias-orcas-are-attacking-blue-whales-and-it-might-be-more-common-than-you-think/  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
The orcas are the only one creature to practice such a technic of hunting. Dangerous not because of the kind of prey but simply because of an error of timing with the wave which can be fatal.
Nice photo showing orca from a bit different angle than usual.
 *This image is copyright of its original author This article about orcas and how noise of boats cause troubles is also interesting. Quote: "Underwater ocean ambient noise has increased by approximately 15 decibels in the past 50 years due to increased marine transportation and other anthropogenic (human-made) sources. Noise travels approximately five times faster in water than air and has a wide range of detrimental effects on whales. With increasing numbers of vessels plying the world’s oceans, their engine noise is making it hard for many whale species to communicate." Source: https://www.earthtouchnews.com/oceans/whales-and-dolphins/quieter-ships-could-help-canadas-endangered-orcas-recover/
Here are some interesting things that I've noticed:
1) Orcas can be white: 2) In early November 2019, a pod of orcas were seen chasing a great white shark, with some other sharks being nearby. One of the other sharks was apparently 'unnerved' by the presence of orcas, while another did not appear to be 'perturbed', according to Oceans Research: https://www.sciencealert.com/watch-orcas...g-predator 3) A pod of what were thought to be Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas, which were thought to number at least 10, were seen attacking 20–30 dolphinsoff the coast of San Clemente, California, on the 29th of July, 2019. After the dolphins stampeded in one direction, the orcas surrounded them, separated an adult from its calf, and one of them caught the calf in its mouth, thus killing it. Despite being much smaller than the orcas, the mother dolphin had unsuccessfully tried to save its calf, and then retaliated against the orcas by circling them: https://www.ocregister.com/2019/07/30/vi...-clemente/
This pod of orcas managed to snatch a gray whale calf from its mother, even though their greatest opponents (even if not dangerous, from what I see), the humpback whales, intervened:
Last month, a sub-adult got entangled in a gill net meant for fishing cods, in Notre Dame Bay off the coast of Beaumont in Newfoundland, Canada, and drowned: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundl...-1.5380987
Also, there was this report in July last year about orcas of the Northwestern Pacific starving and disappearing: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/09/scien...gered.html 
Orca grandmothers help improve survival odds of their grandkids, study finds
Grandmother orcas that are no longer breeding help improve their grandcalves’ chances of survival, a new study has found. By analyzing the lives of 378 orca grandchildren in two resident groups in the Northeast Pacific, the researchers found that calves whose maternal grandmother died within the last two years had a mortality rate 4.5 times higher than a calf with a living grandmother. The effect was particularly amplified when salmon populations, which resident pods rely on, were low, the authors found, and less so when salmon was abundant. Since elderly females lead younger members of their group to salmon hotspots in the ocean, and salmon populations are declining in general, the study highlights grandmothers’ crucial role in the survival of the mammals.
" The Rag doll Effect. Orca beaches itself, ambushing two seals who thought they finally escaped the orca. The orca bites down on the unluckier of the pair and you can see the seal start to rip apart ."
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