Saving Springer How NOAA helped an orca go home

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Saving SpringerHow NOAA helped an orca go home
Mark Sears
Global Research and Rescue
Lesson 2. All About Orcas
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All about orcasWhat will you learn?

• What is an orca?
• What is a pod?
• What do orcas look like?
• Where do orcas live?
• How do orcas communicate?

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All about orcas What is an orca?

• Marine mammal
• Largest member of the dolphin family
• Top hunter in the sea (nothing eats an orca!)

What isa marine mammal?
Mark Sears
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All about orcasOrcas live in pods

• Orca families are called pods
• Organized around the mothers

John Durban, NOAA
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All about orcasOrcas live in pods
Did you know Orcas stay with their mothers
their whole lives!
If you see one member of a pod, the other whales
are usually nearby.
Mark Sears
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All about orcasWhat does an orca look like?
Dorsal Fin
Blowhole
Rostrum
Eye Patch
Pectoral Fins
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All about orcasWhere do orcas live?

• All oceans
• Arctic (north) and Antarctic (south)
• Coastal and deep-ocean
• Well-studied populations in Iceland, Norway,
  Antarctica, Argentina, and the Pacific Northwest
  of the United States and Canada

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All about orcas3 kinds of orcas in the Salish
Sea

• Resident
• Transient
• Offshore

Salish Seas Puget Sound Strait of Juan de
Fuca Strait of Georgia
What kind of orca eats mostly fish?
Where do the offshores live?
Who eats seals?
Mark Sears
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All about orcasResident pods of the Salish Sea

• Northern residents
• 34 pods (A, G, R)
• 261 whales (2011)
• Southern Residents
• 3 pods (J, K and L)
• 88 whales (2011)

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All about orcasHow do orcas communicate?

• Vocalizations
• Different languages for pods and groups of pods
• Behaviors
• Tail-slapping, pectoral fin slapping, breaching
• Orcas also use sound to hunt by echolocation

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All about orcasTodays activities

• Map/Timeline
• Find your orca family