are orcas a type of whale?
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Though called killer whales, orcas are not whales. They are the largest dolphin species.
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Puget Sound's southern-resident orcas wow Monterey Bay, California, in rare sighting. ... Transient, or Bigg's, killer whales that prey on gray whale calves are the orcas usually seen in the California waters this time of year.
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Orcas are apex predators, at the top of the food chain. No other animals (except for humans) hunt orcas. Killer whales feed on sea birds, squid, octopuses, sea turtles, sharks, rays and fish. They also eat most marine mammals, such as seals and dugongs.
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According to National Geographic, orcas are considered the largest species of the dolphin family. They weigh up to 6 tons (5,443 kilograms) and grow to 23 to 32 feet (7 to 9.7 meters). That is almost as long as a school bus. The largest orca ever recorded was 32 feet (9.8 m) long, according to Sea World.
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Porpoises are a group of fully aquatic marine mammals, similar in appearance to a dolphin, all of which are classified under the family Phocoenidae, parvorder Odontoceti (toothed whales).
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There are 73 southern resident orcas left in three pods: J, K and L. Pods usually consist of 5 - 30 whales, although some pods may combine to form a group of 100 or more.
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Physical characteristics Orcas are distinctively coloured. The dorsal surface is mostly black except for a grey saddle behind the dorsal fin. The underside of the body and underside of flukes are white and there is a white eyespot behind each eye.
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Orca in Hawaii are about on par with the Loch Ness Monster and Big Foot; there are a number of people who claim to have seen them, but the evidence is very slim. The reality, however, is that they do exist in Hawaii, but they aren't a part of a resident population that is regularly spotted in the islands.
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Orcas: Where can you spot killer whales in Australia? Orcas – informally referred to as killer whales because of their fearsome reputation – are majestic mammals found in Australian waters between the months of June and October on the east coast, and January to April on the west.
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Whales are more closely related to humans than to fish She serves as the executive director of the Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation. Whales are a member of the cetacean family, and as such, despite being wholly water-resident, whales are mammals, not fish.
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We typically think of orcas living in colder climates, but about 500 orcas live in the Gulf of Mexico where they feed on tuna and even dolphins in the Gulf's deep waters, typically far from land. It is believed that these “killer whales” also used to feed on Caribbean monk seals, which went extinct in the 1950s.
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Orcas are highly intelligent, social mammals. Largest of the dolphins, the orca, is a highly successful predator, feeding on fish, seals, and sometimes whales.
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Beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas ) are toothed whales (Suborder Odontoceti). They are one of 76 cetacean species, and are marine mammals. An unlabeled print-out of a beluga whale.
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Dolphins and whales are closely related. Orcas were given the name 'killer whale' by ancient sailors' observations of groups of orcas hunting and preying on larger whale species. They called orcas asesina ballenas, or 'whale killer' – a term that was eventually flipped around to the easier 'killer whale'.
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Killer whale attack. Killer whales (or orcas) are powerful predators capable of killing leopard seals and great white sharks. They have also been recorded preying on usually terrestrial species such as moose swimming between islands. In the wild, there have been no fatal attacks on humans.
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The birth of a new baby whale, known as a calf, usually occurs during the birth season for that specific type of whale. Orcas, for example, tend to give birth in the spring or fall, while blue and humpback whales do so in the winter.
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Marine mammals are classified into four different taxonomic groups: cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses), sirenians (manatees and dugongs), and marine fissipeds (polar bears and sea otters).