Orcinus Orca Essay

Orca whales are the largest members of the dolphin family. Orcas are very curious creatures, they like to sky hop, which is when they poke their heads out of the water and look around, and they can also dive to as much as a hundred feet. These social animals live in pods and stay with them for their whole lives. They are so family oriented that they can may sleep together in a tight circle and have synchronized breathing. Orcas can grow up to thirty-two feet and can weigh nine tons. They typically eat five percent of their body weight and are amazing hunters. The lifespan of an orca in their

Orcas have the most diverse diet of all the marine mammals. Some specimens of orcas prefer different types of marine mammals or marine life. They will mostly eat fish and squid, but will devour almost any marine animal in site. They tend to eat a wide array of fish from salmon, hering, halibut, and cod. One Orcas was found to have a harbor seal, a stellar sea lion, and a harbor porpoise in its stomach. Another orca was found to have the remains of 32 adult harbor seals in its belly (Martin.) The orca has been observed to eat river otters, squid, and

It’s a average, nice summer day and you and your family decide to see killer whales at SeaWorld. Once you arrive to the place and see the large animals in the tank you’re fascinated by their large size. Killer whales, or orca whales, are large marine mammals that can be found in every ocean around the world. They can swim for hundred of miles and “routinely dive up to 300 ft” (“Should Orca Whales Be Kept in Captivity”). They also live in large family groups known as pods that they will rarely ever leave. Seeing these large animals in the tanks that they make seem small due to their large size and with other whales along with marks, mainly bite marks and flopped over dorsal fin for the males, make it questionable if they even should be here and if these other whales are family in the seemingly makeshift pod. Orcas should not be in captivity because of health problems, lack of space in the tanks, and most of them are taken from their homes in the wild where their true family is.

Thesis: SeaWorld should be shut down because of the treatment against Orcinus orcas in captivity.

Get out of line and take a stand to stop the unjustified capture of killer whales. Orcas, also known as killer whales, have been imprisoned, against their will, for years. Evidence proves many Orcas are inhumanly captured, from the ocean, for the sheer pleasure of human entertainment and profit. Irrefutably, these majestic, intelligent, marine creatures belong in one place, and one place only, the ocean. Clearly, documentation proves, these magnificent mammals do not thrive in captivity, become irritated, and have injured or killed hundreds of humans.

In 2013 CNN made a documentary called “Blackfish” were it shows how the life of orca whales have been in captivity. Orca whales are such an amazing and beautiful creature; however, it is not right that these whales are kidnapped so young. The blackfish documentary has also proved that since the 1970’s, baby orcas have been hunted and made to perform in front of a large social gathering. SeaWorld states that

The Orange County detective shifted in his seat and adjusted the phone in his ear. Clearing his throat, he asked, “Once they were able to pull her away, how did he let go of the uh..” Thomas Tobin, SeaWorld’s paramedic, portentously answered, “He didn’t.”

Another reason why orcas shouldn’t be in places like SeaWorld is because the habitat is bad and small for them. One example is that often the orcas get bored when they are in captivity and start to chip of the paint on the side of their enclosure’s walls. This then ruins their teeth, which then means regular dental check-ups. (B) In a way, orcas are similar to humans because they get bored. When whales are in the wild they can swim freely and for as long as they want. This shows that they aren’t as active as in the wild. For example, often there are dominant females and sometimes those dominant females can get violent. They get so violent that they start to hurt other whales. According to article Killer Whales Should Not Be Kept in Captivity,”

Orcas are also known as killer whales. Orcas have been around for many of years. They are the largest specie of the dolphin family. Most people recognize Orcas by being called “killer whales” and their color being black and white. Killer whales usually live up to 50 years old in the wild and a lot less in captive areas. Places such as Sea World have kept killer whales in captivity for many years. Although people enjoy the sight of the Orcas, we fail to see the harm it is causing them by keeping them in a secluded area. Are Killer Whales safer in confined spaces? Or should they be kept in their natural habitat? Being held captive limits their freedom and enjoyment of life and doesn’t allow them to be who they really are. Recent studies have shown that the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) claims “To confine them in a space that is, at best, a tiny fraction of the size of their ocean home, depriving them of natural stimulation and social bonds, leads to boredom and, at worst, to poor

Half a century ago in 1964, the first orcinus orca or killer whale was captured and put on display (Rose 1). Today, there are forty-five orcas in captivity with about half being born in confinement (“Killer Whales in Captivity”). Orcas are tremendously intelligent, socially complex, and family oriented animals. Studying them in captivity, and at the same time in the wild, we have learned enough about them to realize that orcinus orcas do

Occasionally, the whales will fight with each other due to stress, but since they are in such a small enclosure they have nowhere to go to get away from each other like they would in the wild. Many orcas that are held in captivity have problems with their teeth and they have to have their teeth drilled. “All captive adult male orcas have collapsed dorsal fins, likely because they have no space in which to swim freely and are fed an unnatural diet of thawed dead fish”(8 Reasons). Some killer whales also develop infections and the whales are not healthy because they are not fed a healthy diet like they would eat in the ocean.

Orcinus Orca, or more commonly known as the Killer Whale, is found in waters worldwide ranging from the Antarctic to tropical regions. Killer Whales are considered to be apex predators of the ocean and have no natural predators. Killer Whales have been observed consuming a large diversity of different marine animals such as fish and squid (Coscarella et al., 2015) and also prey on Subantarctic Fur Seals, which is what they are more commonly known to feed on (Pistorius et al., 2012). Pitman and Durban (2010) also made observations of Killer Whales hunting penguins in the Antarctic. Trying to understand how this top predator regulates the food web involves knowing the relationships among species and also their population size and diet (Coscarella et al., 2015). Killer Whales use different hunting techniques while trying to catch their food and are also very social creatures and tend to hunt in pods. Some Killer Whales have been observed simply chasing their prey until they tire or using a more advanced hunting tactic such as diving to deep depths to get their food, also another unusual activity observed are Killer Whales playing with their food.

The orcas that are taken in captivity have shown aggressiveness and frustration. When orcas are put into the same pod together they tend to scrap each others bodies with their teeth (BBC) . These killer whales have nowhere to go in this situation leading to serious injuries and sometimes death. In addition if they don't perform a task correctly for their trainer then they won't be fed, or if they perform to long or not long enough they won't be fed (BBC).

Orcas are the top predators of our oceans and the largest member of the dolphin family. These whales are extremely social animals and are known for their acute senses of sight and hearing. Killer whales travel in pods ranging from 5-30 whales at a time and are lead by the females. Orcas have a complex form of communication that differs from pod to pod(Basic Facts About Orcas). Killer whales are one of the most brilliant marine creatures. Humans to this day are still astonished by the beauty of these intelligent creatures. Living in captivity takes away from these beautiful creatures freedom and

Killer whales also known as orcas, are magnificent creatures in the ocean. Killer whales have two colors which are black and white. They can weigh up to 9.9 tons in adulthood and live around the world as long as they are close to the surface and some prefer areas with shallow water. Killer whales are also the largest dolphin family member with a brain that can can weigh an average of 5.6 kilograms or 12.3 pounds. The dorsal fin of a male reaches straight up and can be 2 to 6 feet tall and the dorsal fin of a female is the shape of a dolphin's dorsal fin and is short. Orcas can live long lives, from 50 years old to 90 years old. They have 40 sharp curved teeth in their mouths which most of them are 4 inches long and 4 centimeters wide.