Do we really understand the Killer Whale (orca)?

Question

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Answer 1

Clever little fellas!  Making a wave...working together no less... to slide the seal off!!!  Sorry to be a plot spoiler but.... WHY ON EARTH DID THEY PUT THE SEAL BACK?!?! It looked like sport.... new Orca game. "Hungry Hungry Orca!" perhaps?

lol : )

Answer 2

What's to understand, it is a very large preditor, the climax predetor in its eco-system.  Like many climax preditors it is relatively intellegent and capable of working in groups to improve its hunting efficiency.  But it is not alone in this;  lions, african wild dogs, wolves, and coyotes all show similar behavior.

Answer 3

We don't know them very well, as with any animal, but it is known that one pod doesn't breed within it's self or neighboring pods to minimize the chance of their bloodline dying out, they also may have a form of "communication," whistles and squeaks in certain patterns.

Best,

Eskimo

Answer 4

It  is  almost  impossible  to  understand  animal  brain  anyways.

Answer 5

I lived in the San Juan Islands for awhile and would see killer whale pods on a near weekly basis.  They are amazing and fascinating mammals to watch.

While we have learned something about their socialization, breeding, hunting and pod activity; we still have a long way to go on understanding significant portions of their behavior.  Scientists are still baffled that killer whales don't follow a very focused migratory pattern, but rather to change location as they see fit.

Years ago while sailboat racing near the Straits of Georgia we ended up becalmed.  About an hour into this a single killer whale spy hopped about 20 feet from our boat.  It then settled down and swam about near us for almost two hours!

The link below has some great resources on learning more about killer whales.