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Requesting photo of orca(s) hunting sea lions Richard001 (talk) 01:56, 21 February 2008 (UTC)
Older issues:
- Talk:Orca/General archive 1
- Talk:Orca/Should the page be at Orca or Killer Whale (resolution: Orca)
- Talk:Orca/Is it a dolphin, a whale, both?! (resolution: dolphin)
- Talk:Orca/Aug 2004-Apr 2006
- Talk:Orca/April 2006-May 2008
[edit] Attacks on Humans, attack on a boat
This article refers to the author of a book named "survive the savage sea" he reported his yacht as having been attacked, holed, sunk by a pod of killer whales. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dougal_Robertson —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.1.173.244 (talk) 01:17, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] article is inconsistent
One part at the top says that orcas ever eating other marine mammels. Towards the bottom it discusses orcas eating whales, seals, etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by TCO (talk • contribs) 03:16, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Endangered Status
This sentence from the introduction doesn't seem to make sense to me: Although Orcas are an endangered species, some local populations are considered threatened or endangered due to pollution, depletion of prey species, conflicts with fishing activities and vessels, habitat loss, and whaling. Should it read Although orcas are not an endangered species... or does the second part need to be rewritten?--76.22.88.212 (talk) 21:39, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
- I was about to ask the same thing. Going by the conservation infobox, it looks like they are not endangered, so I'm assuming that you are correct, and the sentance should read "...are not and endangered species...". If no one objects, I'll fix it later tonight dcole (talk) 20:28, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] A Few Questions
Some stuff that I think would be interesting to have answered in the article: 1. What are the Orcas senses like? How much do they use vision/ hearing when hunting? Do they use a sense of smell? 2. Do Orcas sleep? 3. What is an Orca's bite like compared to a shark? It seems a shark can open it's mouth much wider. Cheers.Ben 2082 (talk) 15:38, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
- I agree, your questions are excellent and should be added to the article. Foremost, Orcas do sleep (in a way). They use one half of their brain at a time, so that the other half of the brain can shut off and rest. This explains why Orcas are capable of swimming, surface resting, and respiring. According to numerous studies, Orcas lack a sense of smell. However, they consists of an impeccable sense of vision in and out of the water, due to their eye placement. Furthermore, they use echolocation to locate and discriminate objects, in which the various blowhole sounds can distinguish other Orca pods via their different dialects. Continually, Orcas are just like any other mammal when it comes to the touching sense. They can be ticklish, itchy, sunburnt, etc. Regrettably, I am unaware of any studies or direct observations regarding the Orca's taste sense. I presume they consists of taste buds and prefer certain types of prey, as well.SWF Trainer (talk) 15:50, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
- Cool, thanks for the info. So if they only use one half of the brain at a time, does this mean that they act differently when using each half? Sort of like how people can be left or right-brained and be creative or better at maths? Or are both halves more similar than in people? Interesting about the vision. I'm guessing it's not as good as sharks' vision in the dark? I mean, surely Orcas don't dive as deep? Actually be interesting to have some stuff about dive depth in the article, too. What about an Orca's bite? Why can't they open their mouths as wide as a Great White can? Thanks for your info man!Ben 2082 (talk) 01:12, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
- You are welcome regarding the information! No, Orcas do not act differently when using one hemisphere of their brain compared to the other hemisphere. However, SeaWorld researchers are attempting to determine if Orcas consists of direction preferences based on innate or learned behaviors. Normally, Orcas swim in ocean depths of up to 200 feet. I am unsure of average shark dive depths. Shark and Orca eyes are rather similar to other vertebrate species. Thus, I cannot honestly answer your question concerning vision comparison and contrast between species. The reason why sharks can open their mouths wider than Orcas is because shark's jaws are not attached to the cranium whereas Orca's jaws are attached to the cranium. Furthermore, I am uncertain of the pounds per pressure on both the Orca and Shark bites. Due to protection laws and the fact that both species are rather dangerous within the wild, I am uncertain if that information is available on the web. Your questions are great and I am glad to have helped. I just wish that I could have answered some of your shark/orca comparison questions. SWF Trainer (talk) 21:01, 29 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Appearance
I'm not sure if this would warrant a new section but I think there could be more in the article about Orcas' appearance. I mean, a pretty obvious question that is not answered in the article is: why do they have massive white eye patches on either side of their head? Presumably there's some evolutionary reason for this, although I'm not quite sure what. Also some stuff about how their coloration works as camouflage would be good, too! Ben 2082 (talk) 15:50, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] "Megafauna by continent" categories
Why is this article included in Category:Megafauna of Eurasia and Category:Megafauna of Africa, anyway? Orcas live in the oceans — they don't live on any continent, and do live around all of them. Would anyone object to just removing those categories? And how about Category:Cetaceans of Australia? —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 00:35, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
- I would not object to removal. It seems strange to include ocean-dwelling cetaceans in the category for a continent. The only case where continental categories seems appropriate would be something like the Yangtze river dolphin which lived in freshwater rivers inland. I'd be curious about the intentions of the creator of the cetaceans of Australia category. Would he want us to have a category for Cetaceans of every continent and include most whales in all those categories? --JayHenry (talk) 00:43, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
FA
