Orcas On the Move!

Our whaley buds are expanding their game from the area around the Straits of Gibraltar and Portugal to points north.

Specifically, they’ve hit another rich man’s tub in the North Sea between the Shetland Islands and Norway.

They (the orcas) learn matrilineally, and post-menopausal females assume the greatest importance in individual pods. “Grandmothers” in the Iberian population of whales have been seen observing during the interactions with yachts and other vessels.

GO Grammy Orca!

Dr Alfredo López, of the Grupo de Trabajo Orca Atlántica in Portugal thinks “that human activities, even in an indirect way, are at the origin of this behaviour”. Increased marine traffic, dwindling food sources, warming seas and noise pollution could all play a part. (source)

By the by, Mr. Rich Yacht Dude is fine but his boat might be a bit beat up. I imagine he’ll have no trouble getting it repaired or buying a new one.

Since the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill the population of Transient killer whales, in the northeastern Pacific, has gone from 22 to seven. SEVEN! Man, I’m not even part killer whale and I’m totally pissed!

Did you know that:

• Orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family.
  

• Lady orcas can live to be 50 or as much as 90+ years old. Dudes manage 30 to 60+ years. 
  

• Though their lifespan is similar to humans, lady orcas start baby-making when they’re six to ten years old. Their prego period is 17 months long. Jesus Gestating Christ, imagine being up the spout for a year and a half!!! 
  

• Boys don’t start donating sperm until they’re ten to thirteen years old. 
  

• Orcas have their own language. They communicate through a range of clicks, whistles, pulsed calls, squeals, squeaks and screams. Don't you think that Orca should be a language option in high schools? French, Spanish, German and Orca. Yup.
  

• Our sleek pals have 100 pointed teeth which they use to grab and off prey.

There haven’t been any reports of attacks by angry, roving killer whale pods around my neck of the ocean (YET!) however:

The first orca spotting was off the coast of Provincetown Sunday, the singular male the only killer whale regularly seen in North Atlantic waters. But later the same day a rare pod was spotted around Nantucket. (source)

Back in May, two dozen of our friends were spotted off the coast of San Francisco. There were no reports of yacht attacks—maybe this was just a big family reunion OR it was a planning session.

The marine revolution has begun and I am so here for it!