Orcinus Orca Essay

The origin of modern day whales, a mystery that has puzzled paleontologists for years, may have just been solved with the discovery of an ankle bone. This discovery might sound simple and unimportant, but the bones of these ancient animals hold many unanswered questions and provide solid proof of origin and behavior. The relationship between whales and other animals has proven to be difficult because whales are warm-blooded, like humans, yet they live in the sea. The fact that they are warm-blooded suggests that they are related to some type of land animal. However, the questions of exactly which animal, and how whales evolved from land to water, have remained unanswered until now.

There is no debate that one of the most attractive, human friendly and intelligent beauties in nature is the killer whale, more commonly known as the orca. The orca is in the dolphin family, but capable of learning human traits and freely interacting with them without causing any harm. Their curious behavior and acrobatic moves make us enjoy their company through watching and spending time in the waters with them. However, the gradual decline in the population of the orca is a worrying trend that sparks another kind of debate. Our interactions with killer whales is endangering their survival in the ecosystem, which should not be the case (BioExpedition 1). Our interaction with the

Some people argue that keeping orcas in captivity is not a problem, yet they do not realize some of the limitations and dangers orcas suffer when kept in captivity. One reason is that these unpredictable, thirty-foot long creatures are usually kept in a tank that is too small for them, compared to the ocean where they can swim freely. In captivity, space is limited. According to one expert, “orcas can swim up to 100 miles per day- a phenomenal amount, in comparison to the exercise they receive in captivity” (Cronin). While in captivity, an orca has to keep swimming in circles or float, unable to exercise adequately in a confined space. The small tanks also prevent orcas from living in their natural group sizes, or pods. “In the wild, killer whales typically travel in pods of between five and 30” (Melissa). In captivity, fewer than five whales are kept together, an imbalance that makes the whales more aggressive towards one another. This can lead to dangerous, territorial situations in which captive

People say that keeping orca’s in captivities is not a problem, yet they do not realize that, orcas are also human beings. There are several reasons, why keeping these thirty-feet long creatures, in captivities is a problem. One of them, which are the tank, which is too small, compared to ocean where they can swim freely. One the other side, in captivities, the space is limited. Comparatively, to how they swim out in the wild “orcas can swim up to 100 miles per day- a phenomenal amount, in comparison to the exercise they receive in captivity”(Cronin). While being in captivity, orca has to keep swimming in circles or floats. Out “In the wild, killer whales typically travel in pods of between five and 30”(Melissa). In captivities there are only few whales, so it makes them more aggressive toward one another. This sometimes can be lead to danger by killing each other for fighting to gain power of the tank.

The development of sole, distinct sounds from captive orcas is troubling, as they cannot communicate with a variety of pods within the wild.

Since the beginning, Orca captivity and displacement has been a highly controversial issue. With some in support of educational value behind venues of captivity such as Sea World, and others opposed to the neglectful treatment and confinement of these behemoth mammals. Killer whales, more commonly known as orcas or blackfish in popular culture, are known to inhabit all oceans on the earth from tropical regions to both arctic and Antarctic areas. In nature, the Killer whale has been designated as the world’s largest apex predator, lacking any predatory threats from above. Accompanying their vaunting presence in the natural food chain, these complex species have been scientifically designated as mammals that

“Howard Garett is a 66-year-old orca researcher and activist based on Whidbey Island in Washington state, USA. Howard has been working with Southern resident orcas of the Pacific Northwest for over 30 years, beginning as a field assistant with the Center for Whale Research. Howard launched the Lolita campaign in 1995, and the Orca Network as it is known today in 2001, which promotes conservation through education and awareness.” (Lipman, Orcaaware.org) Dr. Lori Marino is internationally known for her work on the evolution of the brain and intelligence in dolphins and whales. She has published over 130 peer-reviewed scientific papers, book chapters, and magazine articles on marine mammal biology.

Observations made by Coscarella et al. (2015) show the Killer Whale swimming alongside a dolphin and hitting the dolphin in its head in order to knock the dolphin unconscious. Coscarella et al. (2015) also spotted these Killer Whales socializing, lobtailing, slapping, and recorded breaching behaviors. Coordinated hunting behavior was seen as the Killer Whales would herd the dolphin towards an individual whale that would catch the prey, this supports a belief that sharing prey is common because this has been seen before (Coscarella et al., 2015). Social relationships are maintained when the Killer Whales share their prey (Coscarella et al., 2015).

Bottlenose dolphins are among the most familiar cetaceans, just as whales. The Bottlenose dolphin is a primitive member of the subfamily Delphinine. Bottlenose dolphins are grey, varying from dark grey at the top near the dorsal fin to very light grey and almost white at the underside. There are two ecotypes of bottlenose dolphins the coastal and the offshore. The Coastal dolphin has a small body and large flippers to increase agility and heat dissipation. They have a limited movement into offshore waters and like shallow warm water near the shore. Coastal dolphins for the most part remain in their region. The Offshore dolphin has a large body to help conserve heat and defend itself against predators. They are less restricted in range and movement and like deep, cold waters. Offshore dolphins in the North Atlantic have migratory patterns that follow prey distribution. Bottlenose dolphins live in groups typically of 10–30 members, called pods, but group size varies from single individuals up to more than 1,000. In a case study performed by Randall Wells who is the leader of the longest study of dolphin population since 1970, it was discovered that there are three main factors that influence migration: Seasonal changes in prey location, predation pressure and reproductive requirements. (Wells, 1980). In the fall dolphins follow mullet fish when they migrate from the bays into the Gulf of Mexico to spawn. Dolphins experience the most predation pressure during the summer when

Cetaceans evolved to use sound as their way of sensing the environment, navigating, foraging, and selecting mates. Anthropogenic sounds have negative effects on marine life. Humans produce their own underwater sounds through activities such as aircraft overflights, boats and ships (vessels), tourism, stationary offshore activities, air gun firing, sonars, explosions, and methods to control movement of marine life (W. Johnson Richardson and Bernd Würsig, 1997).

The Common Bottlenose dolphin is one of many dolphins in our world today. According to marinemammalsceince.org the scientific name for the common bottlenose dolphin is “Tursiops truncates”. Like many other mammals, this dolphin has been classified. According to San Francisco State University Department of Geography “the kingdom Tursiops truncatus belongs to is Animalia, the phylum to which they are grouped in is Chordata, and their class is Mammalia. The order in which they belong to is cetacean, the suborder is odontoceti, their family is delphinidae, and the genus is tursiops.” Overtime, everything experiences change, even Tursiops truncates. “The order Cetacean is further divided in two types known as the Odontoceti, or toothed whales, and the Mysticeti, or baleen whales” (Cadelinia 5).

Results in the present study produced using the group membership method resemble those found by Lusseau et al. (2003) in which the Doubtful Sound population could be divided into three sub-groups. The composition of groups however is somewhat different. This is in part due to different individuals being present / alive during their study than in the current study. Where all individuals present in both studies are placed across all three defined groups in Lusseau et al.’s (2003) study, all but Kringel fall into the same single group in the present study. This suggests that, while the overall sub-group structure may have been maintained over time, there is a degree of fluidity among members of sub-groups. This is the very nature of a fission-fusion society, where group composition is dynamic over time (Grellier et al. 2003). The three sub-groups may be an apparently permanent feature of the population when using the group membership method, with the fission-fusion nature of bottlenose dolphins defining the composition of each group through time. It must be noted however that Lusseau et al.’s (2003) study was over a period of seven years, where 546 days were spent on the water. Due to the immense differences in field effort, direct comparisons are made with caution. Previous pilot work, which spanned only 6 days, also yielded similar results using the group membership method.

Whales are highly intelligent creatures and possess many human like qualities such as the ability to teach, learn, cooperate, and grieve. They communicate using echolocation, by which sounds are able to travel for miles as the sound waves propagate in the water (Whale Communication and Vocalizations, 2015). The sounds will echo back to the whale that sends them and this form of communication can travel at a speed of one mile per second. Different species of whales take on various forms of communication as is evident by the humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, who communicate by singing. Both male and female humpback whales vocalize, but only the males produce the characteristically loud and complex “song” with distinct themes and melodies

Due to this, the main purpose of this report is to discuss the various attributes of whales which have assisted in their survival and adaptation in their environments. This includes morphological adaptations such as size, mouth structure, and their body shape; physiological adaptations such as Respiration and their blubber. The report also focuses on behavioural adaptations which discuss migration, and their use of communication. The issues regarding the destruction of whale’s habitats due to the increase of ships on today’s oceans and climate change is also discussed in this report as well as possible solution which could prevent the possibility of extinction for the Blue Whale.

He witnessed birds communicating with each other through their songs (Sterelny, 1990). This is very similar to what is observed in the songs of whales. The songs of whales is an example language, the song of the humpback whale includes whistles, low grunts and rattles. It is sung in a long cycle that can range anywhere form 30 minutes to an hour. It is normally the males that sing during to mating season to attract females and also fend off any males that may be in the area (Whitehead and Rendell, 2014). These songs are also not exclusive to humpback whales, they are also seen in many species such as blue whales, humpback whales and fin whales (Whitehead and Rendell, 2014). The song of the bowhead whale is actually very similar to humpback whales. They both have similar cycles, a wide range of frequency as well as the loudest of songs ever recorded. However one main difference between the two is that humpback whales only sing one songs at a time and bowhead whales can sing three (Whitehead and Rendell, 2014), they have differences in their languages just as humans do. Language is defined as a method of communication that is either spoken or written. Similar to what we discussed in class about communication, a sender is sending signal to the receiver, which is then interpreted, and then there is a response, which may be another signal (Personal communication from Dr. Andy Horn, Behavioral Ecology lecture; unreferenced). In this case the signal is the song of the whale. Therefore based on that we can consider the song of whales to be a language as