Video and pics made from the Condor on Jan 17th 2014 100nm South of SXM (St Maarten)
We were looking for Andrew's 40ft Standfast which had been swept of its morning at St Barth 5 days before.. Coastguard had seen it from plane
and given us position and a picture, looking fine, but after 4 days
already drifted 140nm SW.....
On pictures below u can clearly recognize a Humpback or Sperm Whale AND
Orka's.. I think its Ma Sperm whale and that they managed to tire
baby/puppy Sperm whale and are now devouring it with (with Ma Whale not
giving up) all 'friends' around who 'smelled it.. a lot and they kept coming in at great speed...
..Orca's&Whales Video seen from Condor Jan 17th... https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10202403035610443 Orka's after 1.55 minutes.... (and earlier if u look very good..) For some reason video won't upload here.. sorry
NB To see picture at full size..
1 Click on picture
2 Right click on 'mouse'
3 Click on View
4 Zoom in... and u see lots of details..
On picture below u can clearly recognize a Humpback or Sperm Whale AND Orka's.. I think its Ma Sperm whale and that they managed to tire baby/puppy Sperm whale and are now devouring it with (with Ma Whale not giving up) all 'friends' around who 'smelled it.. a lot and they kept coming in at great speed...
We were looking for Andrew's 40ft Standfast which had been swept of its mooring at St Barth 5 days before.. Coastguard had seen it from plane and given us position and this picture, looking fine, but after 4 days already drifted 140nm SW.....
Orka's zijn gemakkelijk te herkennen: ze zijn van boven zwart, van
onderen wit, en hebben een witte vlek net boven de ogen. Iedere orka
heeft zijn eigen unieke
patroon,
dat net iets afwijkt van andere orka's, waardoor voor een geoefend oog
herkenning en identificatie mogelijk wordt. Ze zijn vrij gedrongen van
bouw en hebben een bijzonder opvallende rugvin (vandaar de naam
zwaardwalvis),
die tot 2 meter hoog kan zijn. Volwassen mannetjes zijn doorgaans 6,7
tot 8 meter lang (maximaal 9,75 meter) en wegen gemiddeld tussen de 4 en
6,3
ton
(maximaal 10,5 ton). De vrouwtjes zijn iets kleiner, gemiddeld 5,7 tot
6,6 meter (maximaal 8,5 meter) lang, en gemiddeld 2,6 tot 3,8 ton zwaar
(maximaal 7,4 ton).
[2]
Bij de geboorte zijn kalveren gemiddeld 2,4 meter lang en wegen 180
kilogram. De grotere mannetjes zijn in de groep herkenbaar aan hun hoge,
spitse rugvin.
Klik
hier (info / uitleg) voor het geluid dat een orka maakt.
Vrouwtjesorka's worden gemiddeld 50 jaar oud, maar kunnen ouder dan
80 worden. Mannetjes hebben een levensverwachting van ongeveer 30 jaar,
maar er zijn gevallen van meer dan 50 jaar oude mannetjes bekend
Orka's komen voor in bijna alle wereldzeeën, zowel in de tropen als in gematigde en koude wateren. Vanwege deze
kosmopolitische distributie
is het lastig een exact beeld van verspreiding en aantallen te krijgen.
Orka's lijken vaker voor te komen nabij de kust, en lijken een voorkeur
te hebben voor het koude water van de hogere
breedtegraden, zowel in het
Arctisch als in het
Antarctisch gebied, met name het gebied dat globaal ligt tussen de 50e en de 70e breedtegraad.
[4]
Over migratie is weinig bekend. Van veel orka's die ieder jaar rond
dezelfde tijd op dezelfde plaats worden gezien, is niet bekend waar ze
de rest van het jaar zijn.
[5]
from.. http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orka_%28dier%29
The
killer whale (
Orcinus orca), also referred to as the
orca whale or
orca, and less commonly as the
blackfish, is a
toothed whale belonging to the
oceanic dolphin family. Killer whales are found in all oceans, from the frigid
Arctic and
Antarctic
regions to tropical seas. Killer whales as a species have a diverse
diet, although individual populations often specialize in particular
types of prey. Some feed exclusively on fish, while others hunt
marine mammals such as
sea lions,
seals,
walruses, and even large
whales. Killer whales are regarded as
apex predators, lacking natural predators.
Killer whales are highly
social; some populations are composed of
matrilineal family groups which are the most stable of any animal species.
Their sophisticated hunting techniques and vocal behaviors, which are
often specific to a particular group and passed across generations, have
been described as manifestations of
culture.
[6]
The
IUCN currently assesses the orca's
conservation status as
data deficient because of the likelihood that two or more killer whale types are separate species. Some local populations are considered
threatened or
endangered due to prey depletion,
habitat loss, pollution (by
PCBs), capture for marine mammal parks, and conflicts with
fisheries. In late 2005, the "
southern resident"
population of killer whales that inhabits British Columbia and
Washington state waters were placed on the U.S. Endangered Species list.
Wild killer whales are not considered a threat to humans, although there have been cases of captives killing or injuring their handlers at
marine theme parks.
[8]
Killer whales feature strongly in the mythologies of indigenous
cultures, with their reputation ranging from being the souls of humans
to merciless killers.
Killer whales are found in all oceans and most seas. Due to their
enormous range, numbers, and density, distributional estimates are difficult to compare,
[81] but they clearly prefer higher latitudes and coastal areas over
pelagic environments.
Systematic surveys indicate the highest densities of killer whales
(>0.40 individuals per 100 km²) in the northeast Atlantic around the
Norwegian coast, in the north Pacific along the
Aleutian Islands, the
Gulf of Alaska and in the
Southern Ocean off much of the coast of
Antarctica.
[81] They are considered "common" (0.20–0.40 individuals per 100 km²) in the eastern Pacific along the coasts of
British Columbia,
Washington and
Oregon, in the North Atlantic Ocean around
Iceland and the
Faroe Islands. High densities have also been reported but not quantified in the western North Pacific around the
Sea of Japan,
Sea of Okhotsk,
Kuril Islands,
Kamchatka and the
Commander Islands and in the Southern Hemisphere off the coasts of
South Australia,
Patagonia, off the coast of southern
Brazil and the tip of
southern Africa. They are reported as seasonally common in the
Canadian Arctic, including
Baffin Bay between
Greenland and
Nunavut, and around
Tasmania and
Macquarie Island.
[81]
Information for offshore regions and tropical waters is more scarce,
but widespread, if not frequent, sightings indicate the killer whale can
survive in most water temperatures. They have been sighted, for
example, in the
Mediterranean, the
Arabian Sea, the
Gulf of Mexico and the
Indian Ocean around the
Seychelles.
[81]
Probably the largest population lives in Antarctic waters, where they range up to the edge of the
pack ice and are believed to venture into the denser pack ice, finding open
leads much like
beluga
whales in the Arctic. In contrast, killer whales are seasonal summer
visitors to Arctic waters, where they do not approach the ice pack. With
the rapid
Arctic sea ice decline in the
Hudson Strait, their range now extends deep into the northwest Atlantic.
[83]
Migration patterns are poorly understood. Each summer, the same
individuals appear off the coasts of British Columbia and Washington.
Despite decades of research, where these animals go for the rest of the
year remains unknown. Transient pods have been sighted from southern
Alaska to central California.
Resident killer whales sometimes travel as much as 160 km (100 mi) in a
day, but may be seen in a general area for a month or more. Resident
killer whale pod ranges vary from 320 to 1,300 kilometres (200 to
810 mi).
Occasionally, killer whales swim into freshwater rivers. They have been documented 100 mi (160 km) up the
Columbia River in the United States.
[86] They have also been found in the
Fraser River in Canada and the
Horikawa River in Japan.