Thursday, March 25, 2010

Just an orca, not the real deal!



The tour boat was approximayely 50 to 100m away when the orca attack occurred, as the other orcas fled. The hungry animal's markings showed it was a female killer whale that chased the orca for several minutes, playing or toying with it, flicking it about 10 metres into the air, before finally breaking the pseudo orca's back on her nose. Lunch is served!



What's a pseudorca you might ask?



Whale and dolphin researcher



"It [the pseudorca] is similar to a pilot whale but the skull closely resembles an orca.



"So when they first found the skulls they thought it was an orca.



"When they found out it wasn't, they called it a false orca or pseudorca.



"They look more like a pilot whale ... with a more pointed face."



Image Source What's a pseudorca you might ask? NZ Herald reveals Whale and dolphin researcher Dr Ingrid Visser said they got their name because their skulls were similar to orca."It [the pseudorca] is similar to a pilot whale but the skull closely resembles an orca."So when they first found the skulls they thought it was an orca."When they found out it wasn't, they called it a false orca or pseudorca."They look more like a pilot whale ... with a more pointed face."

The attack occurred at the Black Rocks, about four nautical miles from Paihia , after a pod of eight killer whales chased more than a dozen pseudo orcas across the bay.