antarctic adventures
by grace kokke
Discription of the orca
Orcas are immediately recognisable by their distinctive black and white colouring. They have never been targeted by humans. They are also dolphins and are part of the dolphin family(which is strange, because they are also called killer whales )
The life span of a orca is 50-80 years! And males can reach the size of 9.7 meters and females can reach 7 meters . The massive mammal can weigh up to 6 tons or are the same size as a bus !They are mammals and are carnivores. When a group of orcas join together they are called a pod, the pod can include up to 40 other individuals
Prey and predators
Orcas hunt in pacs and are top of the Antarctic and marine food chain. There prey include mammals like seals, sea lions and even other whales. They are also are know to eat crabs, fish, squid and seabirds.They use different techniques to catch there prey. Different strategies can be applied each time . These strategies can be used throughout the pod to communicate
Orcas do not have any Antarctic predators
Breading
Habitat
adaptions
2. Under the thick skin of the mammal is a thick layer of blubber
3. When sleeping the orca resets half of its brain while the other half is still awake and will switch over the night
4. The shape of the orca is perfect for swimming and reduces drag