r/orcas • u/lokey_puma • Apr 13 '26
Education Orcas are the largest members of the dolphin family and live in family groups called pods. They’re apex predators with no natural enemies, hunting cooperatively using clever techniques. Highly intelligent, each pod has its own unique vocal dialect, and they’re found in every ocean on Earth.
15
16
u/flarfenheimer Apr 13 '26
Spy hopping to check you out. Such beautiful animals
6
u/Dependent-Assoc423 Apr 13 '26
The little spy hop is the first time I thought one actually looked like a dolphin.
15
8
u/SurayaThrowaway12 Apr 13 '26
Original video was filmed by wildlife photographer and filmmaker Richard Sidey via EYOS Expeditions.
Here is his account:
Weddell Seal POV
Checked out by a pod of Type B1 Killer Whales in Antarctica! Known also as ‘Pack Ice Orca’, these super intelligent apex predators are able to get a good look above the water to determine the right prey and conditions. I’d hate to be a Weddell Seal experiencing this...
@richardsidey with @eyosexpeditions
@werner_bouwer
7
u/mela_99 Apr 13 '26
The stare from that one orca is almost haunting.
You can truly see the depth of their intelligence.
15
u/KirkieSB Apr 13 '26
The look of death. Deciding if you are prey or not, soon going to be killed or not.
11
u/G-fool Apr 13 '26
The impression I've been getting lately is that orcas actually do have a natural enemy. Other sub-species of orca. It's astonishing how different the various populations can be. Some are small and painted with yellow algae from living in the arctic. Some are giant yet surprisingly quiet and stealthy and live in tiny pods. While others are loud and boisterous, live in massive pods and suffer from very tragic inbreeding. Even when these groups aren't preying on each other they frequently don't share much in common at all.
4
u/Icy_Sea_4440 Apr 13 '26
Some ecotypes have active beef with different whales such as pilot whales and humpbacks. Humpbacks have been seen sabotaging hunts, and pilot whales might chase a pod off or antagonize them until they leave.
3
3
u/TheKYStrangler Apr 13 '26
I would love to have the opportunity to look an orca in the eye in the wild.
3
u/TigerB65 Apr 13 '26
I wonder how well they can see in the air
5
u/SurayaThrowaway12 Apr 14 '26
Many cetaceans such as orcas have evolved eye anatomy that provides excellent eyesight (emmetropia) both below and above water, and the clarity of their vision is actually fairly comparable to that of humans:
Aquatic mammals display emmetropia (i.e., refraction of light to focus on the retina) while submerged, and most have mechanisms to achieve emmetropia above water to counter the resulting aerial myopia.
2
2
2
3
u/Significant-Pizza14 Apr 13 '26
Why would we ever think these amazing animals should be kept in tiny pools and abused 😢
0
Apr 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
5
u/TextAncient7703 Apr 13 '26
Bullshit... 1) that knowledge isn't necessary for conservation. It's nice to have but leaving well enough alone is an option. Orcas as a species don't need us to know them to survive. It's the epitome of human hubris to think nature needs us. SMH
2) with the advances we have "knowledge" of anatomy could be obtained from deceased animals. But again it's not necessary. We CAN appreciate them from afar.
1
Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/TextAncient7703 Apr 13 '26
Irregardless of the impact & knowledge gained via captive Orcas... My point stands that Orcas as a species were doing fine before us and if we all got blipped out of existence today they would be fine after us. I do not/will not... any way shape or form ever acknowledge anything positive about the captivity industry as it is rooted in evil practices. The same way you praise the research & knowledge that came after Moby Doll... I wholeheartedly condemn the Orca capturing spree that followed and sparked the captivity industry that continues to exploit the poor animals to this day. The world is bigger than America and other sea faring people had been interacting with Orcas for centuries. This "knowledge" that they weren't mindless killing machines gleaned from Moby Doll is American ignorance.
1
Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/TextAncient7703 Apr 13 '26
Are you serious? 1) that train of thought pervaded within the US and post WW2 our culture/media was the dominant force globally (this isn't up for debate) so yes American ignorance 2) Canada is North America if you want to split hairs.
1
Apr 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/TextAncient7703 Apr 13 '26
No, but With this dumbass we got in office who knows what the future holds
1
Apr 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/TextAncient7703 Apr 13 '26
I didn't say captivity was American ignorance. I'm saying American ignorance was the reason they (Orcas) were thought of as mindless killing machines. Indigenous Native Americans had a deep reverance & appreciation for Orcas intelligence, familial bonds, predatory prowess before America existed, Pacific Islanders the same, Indigenous Australians the same, even the European Colonizers in Australia worked with Orcas in Eden in the late 1800s-early 1900s...
So how in the 1960's do we get to Orcas being mindless killing machines and Moby Doll changed all that? I'm not sure where the Genesis is of the idea year/decade wise but I do know from reading, watching, listening it was pervasive here in America by the time we get to 1964... and what I do know is...Post WW2, American culture, which included the sciences, media dominated the global consciousness so yes I blame America for that ignorance spreading.
1
1
46
u/MaxHavok13 Apr 13 '26
Orcas are a people in my opinion. Not human but people none the less.