Random Orca Stuff :)

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Above is a picture of a spyhopping orca, kindly provided by the Center for Whale Research. :) If you for some unknown reason have a hobby which involves stealing other people's photos, please skip over this photo because I really don't think they'd appreciate it. In other words, DO NOT STEAL THIS PHOTO! Perhaps you should take up another hobby....like collecting paper towel rolls!

Ok, so welcome to the Random Orca Stuff page! This page is for things that do not belong anywhere else, and are outcasts to the other pages on this website! So...I, being the nice person I am, gave them this page out of the goodness of my heart :) This page is also dedicated to my friend Shayna, for obvious reasons (if you knew her, you'd understand). Just like the Life of an Orca page is dedicated to Veronica....ANYWAY:

"It is an important and popular fact that things are not always how they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, man has always assumed that he was more intelligant than dolphins, because he has achieved so much-the wheel, New York, wars, and so on-whilst all the dolphins have ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins have always believe that they were far more intelligant than man...for precisely the same reason."
-Douglas Adams


Well I thought this was pretty cool! Osmia got the 3,333rd view of my home page, and got a screen cap of it for me. Thanks for sending me this, Osmia! See, doubters? For some unknown reason, people DO go to this site!


How Deep Can a Killer Whale Dive?

While orcas can dive pretty deep, most scientists agree that they don't hold a candle to the incredibly deep divers like sperm whales and beaked whales. However, an orca was once found dead entangled in a submarine cable, 3375 ft under the surface.

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Just How Bad Was The Killer Whale's Reputation Before Captivity?

Hmm....let's check out these quotes:

-In the 1960s, the US Navy issued Diving Manuels which gave the orca the highest danger rating: 4+.
According to them: “The killer whale has a reputation of being a ruthless and ferocious beast…if a killer whale is seen in the area, the diver should get out of the water immediately.”

-Down south, the US Navy's Antarctic Sailing Direction said they will:
“will attack human beings at every opportunity”

-In Volume IX of 'Natural History', Pliny the Elder, after seeing an orca in Rome, said,
“A killer whale cannot be properly depicted or described except as an enormous mass of flesh armed with savage teeth.”
He added that they were “the enemy of other whales”
And that they “burst into (the other whales’) retreats….bite and mangle the females and their calves…and charge and pierce them like warships ramming.”

-James Clark, in his book Man is the Prey, said the orca was
“the biggest confirmed man-eater on earth”

-Owen Lee, in his 1963 diving treatise, had some very helpful medical advice:
“There is no treatment for being eaten by an orca, except reincarnation.”

-The Times called orcas
“savage sea cannibals”

-The New York Times published an article in 1929 saying orcas
"are the most vicious and sinister of living animals"

-After Moby Doll's death, the Vancouver Aquarium director made a statement warning people not to get too friendly with orcas. He said Moby Doll
"'was a nice whale, but it was still a predatory, carnivorous creature. It could swallow you alive."

Hmm...can't you just feel the love??


The Loch Ness Monster is Discovered! It's...it's...a killer whale????

An article published by the New York Times in 1935:
BERLIN, April 25—The Loch Ness monster has been identified as a killer whale by Dr. Ludwig Heck, Director Emeritus of the Berlin Zoo. The killer whale is a vulgar name for several species of cetaceans some of which attain a length of from twenty to thirty feet and all of which are characterized by prominent and peculiarly formed dorsal fins.


A Friendly, Wild Killer Whale in Scandanavia

Article found on SeattleTimes.com (published in 1991):

OSLO, Norway - A whale that loved ships and used to play with scuba divers still captivates Scandinavians, even in death.
A thousand Norwegians, Swedes and Danes attended the opening last month of a museum exhibit dedicated to the whale. Some left bouquets beside the whale's skeleton with such messages as ``Sleep well, dear Spaekke.''
Spaekke was the name chosen for the whale in a Danish newspaper poll after it spent 10 months in 1988-89 on a kind of goodwill tour, swimming 1,000 miles along the coasts of Norway and Denmark.
Spaekke was a four-year-old, 13-foot-long killer whale. It first appeared near Alesund, Norway, in October 1988 and followed the ferryboat Voksa for two weeks. Some whale experts said the whale seemed to like the crowds - up to 25,000 people a day - who watched it play in the ferry's wake and show its teeth in a grin.
``It's hard to say who fell in love with whom,'' said a crewman.
Soon, affectionate whales were reported to be courting tugs and trawlers in other ports under the names Ludvig, Soes, Junior, Jens Ove, Valborg and Moby Dick. Experts eventually concluded that only one whale was involved.
``Spaekke could be recognized by a very clear (mark) at the back of his dorsal fin,'' said Carl Kinze of the Copenhagen Zoological Museum. Kinze said that although Spaekke - the name is based on a Scandinavian word for killer whale - sometimes swam with other whales, its behavior was still abnormal. Lars Christensen photographed the whale while diving in Norway.
``I was a little nervous at first, but it was playful and thought it had found a new friend,'' he said.
Later, the whale escorted a ship to Denmark, spent time around several vessels and ended up in Randers fjord, 105 miles northwest of Copenhagen. It survived there for a month. Fans bought Spaekke T-shirts, postcards, photographs, posters and inflatable whales.
When Spaekke died last August, mourners scattered flowers on the Randers fjord.
Kinze said pollution and low salt levels in the fjord could have contributed to the whale's death.
The Randers museum set up a two-month memorial exhibition. The main feature is Spaekke's skeleton. Whale lovers had recovered the body from a beach, cleaned the bones, cut them apart and took them to Copenhagen, where Kinze put the skeleton back together.
Danes placed a paper effigy of the whale near the fjord with the inscription, ``In memory of Spaekke. Sorry about the water quality.''

RIP Spaekke!

There's a photo of Spaekke here(go to the bottom and scroll up, it's the third article from the bottom...there's a link that you can click for a bigger version): CLICK HERE


Since 1999 (when the last resident ID book was published):
-25 whales have been born into the Southern Residents
-22 whales have died in the Southern Residents
-71 whales have been born into the Northern Residents
-61 whales have died in the Northern Residents
-96 whales have been born in total
-83 whales have died in total

I'd say it's time for a new ID book! (Well, they did promise that 2007 would be the year...)


In the 1960s, orcas in the Indian Ocean became so adapt at stealing the tuna from the fishermen, that as soon as the fishermen saw orcas, they packed up and went home.


Keiko, the killer whale who played the part of Willy in the movie Free Willy, was often replaced for scenes with an animated, robotic whale. However, the scene when the main character, Jesse, falls in the tank, and Willy rescues him, used the actual whale. This was based on a real account when a child fell in Keiko's tank in Mexico, and Keiko helped the trainers get him out. Free Willy directors were thinking of using the robotic whale, but trainers assured them it would be fine. They decided to try it once, and Keiko did it perfectly!


Orcas in Movies!


-Jaws 3, which took place at SeaWorld, showed three captive orcas, now deceased: Kona2, Kahana, and Kotar.

-Tentacles, a movie about a giant squid, showed two captive orcas, Orky2 and Corky2

-Mary-Kate and Ashley Shamu Adventure shows a captive whale named Kalina, while Mary-Kate and Ashley Shark Adventures shows the captive whale Taima briefly on the slideout

-Analyze This has the captive orca Lolita, or Tokitae in it

-Phil the Alien has the captive orcas of Marineland Canada in it. Kiska and Hudson are shown throughout it. There are also a few scenes with the Marineland belugas.

-Free Willy stars the captive whale Keiko. At the beginning when wild whales are shown, noticeable individuals are Ruffles (J1), Granny (J2), and Princess Angeline (J17)

-Free Willy3 is mostly robotic whales. However, during the scene when 'Nikki' gives birth to 'Max', it is really the captive whale Bjossa giving birth to K'yosha. The male, supposedly Willy, is actually Finna.

-Orca: The Killer Whale a disgusting and completely bad horror movie (*cough*Jaws ripoff*cough*) occasionally has scenes with two captive orcas, Nepo and Yaka. The first opening sequence is all Nepo and Yaka, with possibly another whale named Kianu. Also, when the researcher gives her lecture, they show footage of Nepo, Yaka, Kianu, and Marineland California (Corky2 and Orky2)

-The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou has about five minutes with Valentin, of Marineland Antibes.

-Moon-Warriors, a Hong Kong movie, stars Hoi Wai

-Keiko en Peligro, a Mexican film, is really really bad, but stars Keiko the whale (he was just so good in movies!)

-Thank You for Smoking which is a really funny movie but very politically incorrect, shows lovely footage of the Argintenean wild orca beaching themselves to catch seals. The male is Bernardo (thanks for the correction!)

-Orca-Fighters was a VERY LAME movie about an orca being used to blow up a ship (right...). The orca is Kiska in it. Thanks GudrunOrca for the info!

GudrunOrca has kindly sent along screen captures from Orca-Fighters, so here for your enjoyment:

Kiska in the movie:

Kiska's home (from where she was supposedly kidnapped):

The robot that played Kiska through most of the movie. It was completely stiff, and the pectoral fins didn't move at all. You can see the eyepatches are, um, huge.

A big thanks goes out to GudrunOrca for the pics and info!

That's all I have, but if you have any other movies with orcas in them (and bonus if you know who they are!) pass them on!


SeaWorld has a completely limited vision when it comes to the alphabet. At least 50% of their whales' names start with K or T. This seems to be a phenomenon around the world:

Living Whales with Names Starting with K or T:
Katina, Kasatka, Kiska, Kalina, Kayla, Kyoquet, Kshamenk, Keet, Keto, Ku, Kohana, Kalia, Tillikum, Taima, Takara, Taku, Tuar, Tekoa, Trua.

And this isn't a new phenomenon! However, in the past, instead of T, there was S!

Deceased Whales with Names Starting with K or S:
Kilroy, Katy, Kandu, Kianu, Knootka, Kona, Kandu2, Kandu3, Kandy, Kanduke, Kim, Kona2, Kenau, Kandu5, Kotar, Kahana, King, Kiva, Katerina, K'yosha, Kanuck, Kyu-Chan, Kim2, Kandu7, Shamu, Skana, Scajaw, Sandy, Shawn, Spooky, Sacchi, Samoa, Shachi, Splash.

Of course, it's not just the letters that make orca names so odd and often funny. Check out some of these really weird captive names:

Orky and Orky2, and Orky2's daughter was named Orkid, a conjugation of Orky's Kid

Corky and Orky, a pair

Cuddles...this was a big male (?????)

Jumbo and Chappy (!)

A whale called Whale

Finna, Vigga, and Bjossa were all named by their capture ship's cook...unfortunately, they were all girl names, and Finna was a guy

An orca named Orca!

Katina had two daughters, Kalina and Katerina.

Lovey (do I need to add to this?)

Tai & Chi (both at the same aquarium) (Thanks Gudrunorca!)

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Wild Whale Names

But that's not to say wild whales don't have their fair share of whacky names! A few of them even share their name with other whales, such as:

Surf was A58...confusingly, the name is now taken by A66

Skagit is A35...but there's another Skagit, in the Southerns, K13

Skana was a captive whale, but is also the name of L79

Keet is a young captive whale, but he is also a young wild male, J33...They're even almost the same age!

Kasatka is a female in captivity, and is L82

Taku was K1, and it's also the name of a young male orca at SeaWorld Florida

Kiska was K18, and Kiska is also the matriarch of Marineland Ontario

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Origins of Names

Usually, wild whales are named after places or watersheds, but sometimes, wild whales get their names from interesting origins (usually the less traditional southern residents). Here are some of the more notable ones:

*Winchester/D10 probably got her name from Winchester guns, as she has a small, probable bullet hole in her fin

*M.B./G46 is named after Michael Bigg, father of killer whale research (his initials). MB was born soon after Dr Bigg's sad death.

*Samish/J14 is named after the Samish First Nation people, while her third calf, Hy'Shqa/J37 was named by the Samish people in a traditional naming ceremony (his name means "blessing" or "thank you"), and her latest calf, Suttles/J40 was also named traditionally by the Samish Nation. Suttles was named after Dr Wayne Suttles, a Coast Salish researcher.

*Mike/J26 is the second whale named after Dr Michael Bigg

*Princess Angeline/J17 is named after Chief Seattle's daughter, of the Duwamish

*The cookie family is Oreo/J22 and her two kids, Doublestuf/J34 and Cookie/J38.

*Deadhead/K27 was named after Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead

*Jelly Roll/L43 was named after Jelly Roll Morton, a jazz musician

*Ralph/J6 was named after Ralph Munro, an American senator who campaigned successfully to stop captures and protect the Washington orcas


Taku's Replica

In Holland, at the Rotterdam Zoo named 'Diergaarde Blijdorp', there is a life-size replica of Taku (K1), a wild male orca who has passed away. At the same place, there are other life-size replicas of species of cetaceans. There's a humpback whale, a Common Dolphin, a Bottlenose Dolphin, a Eastern Spinner Dolphin, and a Spotted Dolphin.
To see the Taku replica, CLICK HERE
To see the site of the zoo, Click here
For the company that made the replica Click Here

Thanks GudrunOrca for the info!


Moclips's Teeth

Moclips/L8 was a young L-Pod male who died at the age of around 20, in 1977. His body washed up and his skeleton is now at the Whale Museum. Interestingly, researchers studied his teeth and discovered that orca teeth have growth rings like trees, indicating approximately how old they are. The teeth are longest along the side, starting from about the 5th tooth from the front.

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What do we know about whales after death?

Typically, when a whale disappears from its family in the BC/Washington study, it is declared dead after a year. But what happens to the bodies? Well, occasionally they wash up, which is great for science because we rarely get the chance to study them. But usually they sink and disappear, never found.
In 1999, 167 resident whales that we knew had died. Out of all those whales, 11 bodies were found. Who washed up? I don't know all of them, but here's the ones I know:

1. Kelkpa/A57 At the age of 5 the little girl was found alone in a bay. She died later that day and was found to have had erysipelas, a bacterial infection that caused her death.
2. Eve/Scar/A9 Eve washed up on a beach in 1990 at around the age of 53. Researchers discovered her after some idiots tried to carve out her teeth (don't ask). Although they never determined her cause of death, her stomach contents included 13 different species of fish.
3. Everett/J18 Everett washed ashore in 2000, at the age of 23. He had died a few days before being found, from Edwardsiella tarda, a bacterial infection.
4. Rascal/L60 Rascal stranded in Oregon in May 2002. It's unknown what researchers discovered during the biopsy.
5. Nootka/L51 Nootka was found at Race Rocks in 1999, at the age of around 26. Sadly she left a calf behind who also died soon after.

So, that's all I've got. If you have any info on the other 7 whales who were recovered (yes, 7...the 11 count didn't include Rascal), or any info on the whales I already have or any more recent ones....well, Email Me!