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r/orcas

▲ 6 r/orcas

Looking for orca science social media accounts or any accounts where people tell about orcas.

On Facebook, Youtube, Instagram or TikTok, thank you.

reddit.com
u/OkDot8850 — 9 hours ago
▲ 100 r/orcas

Can Killer Whales recognize themselves in Mirrors?

We know that Bottlenose Dolphins can recognize themselves in mirrors. But what about killer whales? They seem pretty smart as well and wikipedia says, "Killer Whales may be able to recognize themselves in mirrors."

u/AdDisastrous4167 — 18 hours ago
▲ 11 r/orcas

Is Panghu Happy?

There are those in this community who believe the pseudoscience that orca fins flop because theyre depressed and unhealthy. If that is true, explain Panghu: a wild caught Russian orca living in Shanghai. He is currently 23 and has been in captivity for 10+ years.

If your ideology is correct, then he is happy.

u/LadyRed221 — 1 day ago
▲ 28 r/orcas+1 crossposts

Elementary students witness an orca pod hunting a whale calf, and later the beached calf, in Trinidad, California. Nice audio of the kids excited at seeing the orcas.

facebook.com
u/bookchaser — 22 hours ago
▲ 38 r/orcas

Tilikum's story makes me so sad

I genuinely don’t think I’ll ever get over how heartbreaking Tilikum’s story is.

Every time I read about him or watch footage of him, it just makes me feel sick knowing how much of his life was spent in captivity. Being taken from his family as a baby, living in tiny tanks, the isolation, the stress, the collapsed dorsal fin, the aggression that developed over time… it’s hard not to look at him and see an animal that was failed over and over again by humans.

What gets me most is that orcas are so intelligent and social. They have deep family bonds, cultures, communication, all these emotional complexities, and yet he spent decades performing for crowds. I know people debate captivity a lot, but Tilikum honestly changed the way I view marine parks entirely.

I think one of the saddest things is that so many people only know him because of the tragedies associated with his life, instead of seeing him as an orca that probably should have never been in captivity to begin with.

Does anyone else here still get really emotional thinking about his story?

reddit.com
u/Altruistic-Buy-7768 — 1 day ago
▲ 18 r/orcas

Full sketchbook page

I was gifted acrylic markers during chirstmas and just haven't really used them since I first got them so I decided to dedicate a whole page to me using them

Only one reference was used on this page and it is the art of 0299, which I have posted before in this subreddit

u/Sugargrim3 — 1 day ago
🔥 Hot ▲ 8.8k r/orcas+2 crossposts

By @quinn_smithspearo on Instagram

u/Speculooss — 3 days ago
▲ 32 r/orcas

Only uneducated people enjoy orca shows? Poor things fin is completely collapsed . Person brags they’ve been at 772 shows . Just ew.

u/Happy-Chemistry-3379 — 2 days ago
▲ 46 r/orcas

Orca Insurgency Demo available!

I just released the demo to my game Orca Insurgency for Steam’s Ocean Fest! I’ve been posting about the game over the last few years on here and appreciate the community!

Orca Insurgency is an anti-captivity, pro-ocean life 3d action adventure game where you play as the pod of orcas attack boats around the Strait of Gibraltar.

When evil whale hunter start capturing your pod members you spring into action with the help from some unexpected sources.

If anyone tries it out I would love to hear about your experience.

u/yuccabuccA — 2 days ago
▲ 3 r/orcas+2 crossposts

Why is there a higher pilot whale population than orcas?

I was thinking of it but couldn't answer it. Current estimation for Orcas are around 50k globally, long finned pilot whale 780k, short fin pilot whale 360k. Orcas eat a lot of things from marine mammals like seals to fish to even other cetaceans. Pilot whale contrast to eating only Squid. Both are closely related and a part of blackfish.

If Orcas are highly intelligent, apex predator with a successful diet then shouldn't they have expanded far more? One possible hypothesis I could come up with is that Orcas are bigger and so need more food. Also reproduction rate of both orcas and pilot whale is similar and both care for their children and both have social structure. Another hypothesis I have is that something hunted Orcas more recently and since they eat everything, they had beef with everyone else including sperm whale. Although everyone shy away from orcas except for pilot whale which would make sense given their numbers.

Orcas are recorded hunting and even eating pilot whale, while pilot whale haven't been recorded doing the same to Orcas but they chase Orcas away. This feels like homo sapien and neanderthal all over again to me. Neanderthal were bigger than us in both brain and size, more muscular but had small social circle while homo sapiens had large social circle with 1000 individuals each, who cared for each other and we were far more than them. This feels very analogous to that situation.

reddit.com
u/Concern-Excellent — 2 days ago
▲ 30 r/orcas+1 crossposts

Name Meanings of Captive Orcas: Part I

(Image by hunter d. photography sourced via Inherently Wild)

I've written this post after a few discussions about what their names mean.

For now, it's SeaWorld and the EU.
Note: Some name meanings may be misattributed.

SeaWorld Parks:

  • Corky - "hill hollow" in Irish
  • Katina - "pure" in Greek
  • Kasatka - "killer whale" and "darling" in Russian
  • Ulises - "wrathful" in Latin
  • Tilikum - "friend" in Chinook
  • Orkid - "Orky's kid". Orkid is named after her father. Her name is a combination of Orky and Kid
  • Kayla - "beloved" in Hebrew
  • Takara - "treasure" in Japanese
  • Kyuquot - "people of Kayukw" in the Nuu-chah-nulth ("Nookta") language
  • Keet - "killer whale" in Tlingit
  • Shouka - Unknown, couldn't find a proper meaning.
  • Unna - "to love and adore" in Old Norse
  • Tuar - "unique" in Inuit
  • Nakai - "victory" in Native American
  • Ikaika - "strong" in Hawaiian
  • Kalia - "beautiful" in Hawaiian
  • Trua - "believe" in Icelandic
  • Nalani - "the heavens" in Hawaiian
  • Malia - "calm and peaceful" in Hawaiian
  • Sakari - "sweet" in Inuit
  • Makaio - "gift of god" in Hawaiian
  • Makani - "the wind" in Hawaiian
  • Kamea - "precious one" or "the one" in Hawaiian
  • Amaya - "night rain" in Japanese
  • Kyara - A combination of her parent's names, "Kyuquot and Takara"

EU:

Marineland Antibes

  • Freya - named after the Norse Goddess of love, beauty and fertility.
  • Valentin - "healthy and strong" in Latin
  • Inouk - "people" in Inuit
  • Wikie - "fast" in Hawaiian
  • Moana - "ocean" in Hawaiian
  • Keijo - "elf / fairy" in Finnish

Loro Parque

  • Keto - "sea monster" in Greek
  • Tekoa - "to pitch a trumpet / trumpet sound" in Hebrew
  • Kohana - "little flower" in Japanese
  • Skyla - "the sky" in English
  • Morgan - "bright shining sea / sea-born" in Welsh and Brenton
  • Adán - Spanish variation of the name "Adam" which means "man"
  • Ula - "jewel of the sea" in Celtic
  • Teno - named after the volcanic tourist spot in Tenerife
u/AdDisastrous4167 — 3 days ago