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 The
killer whale is not a whale. It is the largest member of the dolphin
family. Killer whales can be found in all oceans of the world. They
have long, rounded bodies. And they
have large dorsal fins in the middle of their backs.
They have a very unique black and white coloration. The average male killer whale grows to
7 meters long and weighs 7 to 10 tons. Females are a little smaller
than males.
Killer whales live their lives in family groups called pods. Pods usually consist of 5 to 30 killer
whales. These pods are led by females. Killer whales hunt as a group.
And they can hunt much larger animals. For example, a pod of killer
whales can even hunt a blue whale. The blue whale is the largest animal
in the world?
Killer whales eat fish, squid, sea turtles and sea birds.
They can also eat other sea animals including seals, dolphins
and penguins. Sometimes they even eat polar bears! Killer whales sometimes
swallow their food in chunks. Their throats are large enough
to swallow small animals such as seals. Adult killer whales
eat about 3 to 4% of their body weight in food per day.
The gestation period of a killer
whale is about 17 months. Usually only one calf is born at a time. The baby killer
whale is about 2 meters long and weighs about 181 kilograms at birth. The mother will
take care of the baby for
about 2 years. Killer whales live 30 to 50 years in the wild. Since they live all over
the world, the worldwide population of killer whales
is unknown. |
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