Killer whale spy-hopping in the ice. Photo courtesy of NOAA Photo Library
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Orcas recorded by hydrophone anchored in a cove in Glacier Bay National Park. Sound courtesy of Christine Gabriele, Glacier Bay National Park
Orca Spectrogram:
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Orca mother and calf recorded in Johnston Strait, Vancouver, BC. You can hear the mother calling to her calf, the calf responding and the mother calling again. Sound courtesy of Tom Kieckhefer & Pacific Cetacean Group
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During the night, a fishing pole was used to cast out and reel in a glow stick (Cylume stick) in Johnston Strait, Vancouver, BC. This caught the curiosity of several killer whales. In the recording you hear an adult male killer whale emitting a series of low frequency "echolocation" clicks as it follows the glow stick as it is reeled in. As the whale approaches the glow stick, the rate of the clicks becomes faster. Sound courtesy of Tom Kieckhefer
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Orcas recorded in Johnston Strait, Vancouver, BC. The "zap" sounds that you hear are from a group of whales called "A-pod." Sound courtesy of Tom Kieckhefer
Description
The orca or "killer whale" is found throughout the world's oceans, from the arctic to the antarctic. These odontocetes are easily identified by their striking black and white coloration and tall dorsal fin, up to 1.8 m (6 ft) high in males. The males can grow to about 9.5 m (31 ft) in length and weigh eight to nine tons; the females are smaller, only growing to about 8 m (23 ft) and weighing about four tons. Orcas occur in family groups called pods. Three types of pods have been described. Resident pods remain stable over time, whereas transient pods are constantly changing. Offshore pods are only seen in outer coastal waters and very little is known about them. Pods usually number between 5-30 individuals, and as observed in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, are led by females. As apex predators, orcas do not have natural enemies. They are skilled and efficient hunters and have been given the nickname, "wolves of the sea." Resident pods prefer to eat fish, whereas transient pods target other marine mammals as prey. Remarkably, orcas have been known on occasion to attack much larger animals, even blue whales.
Orcas produce sound for echolocation and communication. Scientists studying the recordings of orcas have shown that a pod will have a specific dialect. (See How do Marine Mammals Communicate using Sound - Group-specific vocalizations). These dialects are distinct and unique enough that researchers are able to identify pods based on the sounds that they make. The sounds produced by an orca range from about 0.1 kHz to about 40 kHz. They produce pulsed sounds and clicks at rates of up to 5000 per second. These are often described as sounding like screams or a harsh metallic sound.
References
Awbrey, F.T., Thomas, J.A., Evans, W.E. and Leatherwood, S. 1982. Ross Sea killer whale vocalizations: Preliminary description and comparison with those of some northern hemisphere killer whales. Report of the International Whaling Commission 32: 667-670.
Ford, J.K.B. and Fisher, H.D. 1982. Killer whale (Orcinus orca) dialects as an indicator of stocks in British Columbia. Report of the International Whaling Commission 32: 671-679.
Richardson, W.J., Green, C.R. Jr., Malme, C.I. and Thomson, D.H. 1995. Marine Mammals and Noise. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. pg 171.
Additional Resources
Deecke, V.B., Slater, P.J.B. and Ford, J.K.B. 2005. The vocal behaviour of mammal-eating killer whales (Orcinus orca): Communicating with costly calls. Animal Behaviour 69: 395-405.
Miller, P.J.O., Shapiro, A.D., Tyack, P.L. and Solow, A.R. 2004. Call-type matching in vocal exchanges of free-ranging resident killer whales, Orcinus orca. Animal Behaviour 67(6): 1099-1107.
Thomsen, F., Franck, D. and Ford, J.K.B. 2001. Characteristics of whistles from the acoustic repertoire of resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) off Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 109(3): 1240-1246.
