Oleg Zabluda's blog
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
 
Killer whale
Orca_jumping

Killer whale (Rus: Касатка) is not a whale. It's an [oceanic] dolphin. Unlike whales, all dolphins are predatory, including killer whales. However, both are members of order Cetacea.

Orcas are very inventive and playful in their killing. They sometimes will throw seals to one another through the air in order to stun and kill the animal. While salmon are usually hunted by a single orca or a small group of individuals, herring are often caught using carousel feeding: the orcas force the herring into a tight ball by releasing bursts of bubbles or flashing their white underside. The orcas then slap the ball with their tail flukes, either stunning or killing up to 10-15 herring with a successful slap. The herring are then eaten one at a time... Sea lions are killed by head-butting or by being slapped and stunned by a tail fluke...Orcas will spy-hop to locate seals resting on ice floes, and then create a wave to wash over the floe where a second orca waits to kill it.

Other unusual whales are narwhal and beluga.


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